The Men’s Singles event at the LIEBHERR European Championships in Linz has reached the Preliminary Round phase after a Group Stage full of surprises.
The most notable upset came in Group 31 where Sweden’s Simon BERGLUND currently unranked triumphed in all three of his matches. He defeated Florent LAMBIET of Belgium Rafael DE LAS HERAS of Spain and Martin JOHNSON of Scotland securing the top spot in his group.
“It feels great. I had a good overview and a solid plan before the matches and I managed to execute my game. Playing in a group of four players was probably an advantage. It gave me two matches the day before allowing me to get into a rhythm. I played well and this gives me confidence for the next round ” said BERGLUND.
In his last group match Simon overcame LAMBIET ranked No. 65 in Europe and No. 233 in the world.
“I felt that LAMBIET was a player I really needed to level up against in order to win. You can’t afford to relax from the beginning—you have to be ready from the first game and I succeeded in that. Afterward it was just a matter of maintaining control. I felt he struggled with most things and his style suited me well ” BERGLUND added.
In the Preliminary Round tonight at 21:25 he will face Gabrielius CAMARA of the Netherlands. Also playing in the Preliminary Round at 20:45 is Konstantinos ANGELAKIS of Greece who will take on Andrii GREBENIUK of Ukraine. ANGELAKIS caused another upset in the group stage with a five games win over Csaba ANDRAS of Hungary and Pero TEPIC of Serbia. Since he finished second ANDRAS will now face the highest-ranked player in the qualification stage Joao MONTEIRO of Portugal.
Another exciting clash in the Preliminary Round will feature host nation favorite the experienced Robert GARDOS (45) against Milo DE BOER of the Netherlands who is 20 years old.
Additionally doubles partners Samuel ARPAS of Slovakia and Balasz LEI of Hungary will face each other for a place in the main draw.
