Mark Lajal races through to Orléans quarterfinals
Estonia's top tennis player Mark Lajal is through to the quarterfinals of the ATP Challenger 125 tournament in Orléans, France, after beating Luxembourg's Chris Rodesch in straight sets, 6:4, 6:2.
Lajal, ranked 145th in the world and seeded ninth for the Orléans tournament, beat Norwegian Viktor Durasovic in an arduous three-setter in the opening round. Two of the sets went to tie-breaks.
The round of 16 win against Rodesch was not only wrapped up much more quickly but also allowed Lajal to avenge a loss against the same opponent in the Wimbledon qualifying rounds in summer.
On Wednesday evening, the pair took turns breaking each other's serve, starting with Lajal breaking in the opening game, and doing so again in the third game. He only dropped one more game against Rodesch, ranked 181st by the ATP, in set one.
In the second set, the Estonian once again managed to break in the first game, this time not losing a game on his own serve once, to hold on to win.
The entire encounter lasted an hour and 13 minutes.
Lajal hit seven aces and won 83 percent of points played on his first serve, with a first-serve success rate of 73 percent. His quarterfinal opponent will be either Remy Bertola (ATP 274), playing before a home crowd, or Alexander Blockx of Belgium (ATP 121), the latter the tournament's third seed. The pair have to play today, Thursday.
Lajal and Blockx also met in the quarterfinals at the same tournament last year. The Belgian prevailed 6:3, 6:3 that time.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Anders Nõmm
