Three of Estonia's top tennis players reach quarterfinals at various tournaments
Estonia's star tennis players had a good day Thursday, all reaching the quarterfinals of their various events.
Mark Lajal went through to the next round of the Challenger 125 tournament in Saint-Tropez, France, after his opponent, Alex Molčan (Slovakia) withdrew.
Lajal, part of Estonia's Davis Cup team which played Mexico a week ago, lost the first set 6:4, but won the second set 6:3 against Molčan, a former world top 50 player and now ranked 203rd by the ATP – 47 places lower than Lajal.
Lajal went 3:0 up in the deciding set, at which point Molčan withdrew.
Lajal will face French player Hugo Grenier (ATP 199) in front of a home crowd in the quarterfinals. The pair last year in the first round of the Australian Open qualifiers, with Grenier winning that time.
Estonia's highest-placing women's player, Elena Malõgina (WTA 440th), is taking part in the W15 level ITF tournament in Kayseri, Turkey, where she is the top seed in the main draw.
She beat American Shria Atturu (WTA 1,317th) 6:0, 6:4 in round two on Thursday and will face Ukrainian Maria Bergen (WTA 1,240th) in Friday's quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, second-highest ranked Estonian men's player Daniil Glinka won his match with 17-year-old local player Ferdinand Livet Novkirichka, 6:2, 7:5, at an ITF M25 level tournament also being held in France, in Nevers.
Glinka, ranked 313th in the world, had also been a part of the Davis Cup team and overcame Novkirichka, ranked 1,741st worldwide, in a match lasting an hour and a half.
Glinka's next opponent is Dutchman Niels Visker (ATP 638th).
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Henrik Laever
