Estonia’s top tennis player Mark Lajal won his second qualifying match at the ATP Challenger 100 tournament in Oeiras, Portugal, to reach the main draw.
Lajal, 22, ranked 153rd in the world, made a powerful start against Ukraine’s Oleg Prihodko, six years older than the Estonian and 287 places below him in the rankings, by winning the first seven games of the match.
In set two, things were a little more even, as the players traded holds on the Estonian’s serve until Lajal sealed a 6:0, 6:4 win after taking the set’s only break in the final game.
Over the course of the hour the match lasted, Lajal fired off seven aces and committed three double faults, to his opponent’s two aces and one double fault.
The Estonian converted four of his seven break points and saved all seven break chances he faced.
In round one of the main draw, Lajal will face Spaniard Daniel Mérida Aguilar (ATP No. 164), the tournament’s sixth seed.
Daniil Glinka Source: Ken Mürk/ERR
Estonia’s second-highest-ranked men’s player Daniil Glinka (ATP No. 200) is also competing in Oeiras and will face off against Belgian Gauthier Onclin (ATP No. 269) in round one of the competition proper.
The Estonians were drawn into opposite halves of the bracket, meaning they will not face each other unless both were to make the final.
Both players had a disappointing Australian Open qualifying campaign earlier in January, with Lajal going out in round one and Glinka just one round later.
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