Estonia's Mark Lajal shines in qualifying at Ilkley tennis event
Estonia's Mark Lajal is through to qualifying round two at the ATP Challenger Ilkley tournament in the United Kingdom, after defeating local player Anton Matusevich in three sets.
Challenger Ilkley is a grass-court event and set against the scenic backdrop of the famous Ilkley Moor in Yorkshire. It is one of several grass-court tournaments taking place in the U.K. ahead of the Wimbledon Championships, which start at the end of the month. Lajal, ranked 157th in the world, had last week made it to the quarterfinals of another grass-court competition, the Birmingham Open, though lost to China's Yunchaokete Bu that time.
However, he is top seed in qualifying at the tournament in Ilkley; though he lost the first set against the American-born Matusevich (ATP No. 382) in a 6–8 tiebreak, Lajal found his rhythm in the second set by winning four of the first five games. The Briton later came within one game of the set, but the Estonian finished strongly, securing a 6–3 victory with two consecutive game wins.
In the decider, Lajal showed his class by winning the first five games. He then conceded one game to his opponent but wrapped up the match in the next game, converting his second match point for a 6–1 win, to take the match.
Lajal fired 16 aces against Matusevich and committed three double faults, compared with two aces and six double faults from his opponent. The Estonian won 83 percent of points behind his first serve (compared with 72 percent for Matusevich) and 58 percent behind his second serve (Matusevich 33 percent). Lajal earned 14 break-point opportunities and converted five of them, and saved one of the two break points he faced.
His next opponent in the deciding qualifier will be another Briton, 26-year-old Paul Jubb (ATP No. 313). If the Estonian makes it past this match, he makes the main draw in Ilkley.
Oliver Ojakäär beats Finn to reach California final
Jumping from Yorkshire to Los Angeles, Oliver Ojakäär (ATP No. 1574) came from behind to beat Finland's Iiro Vasa (ATP No. 1068) in three sets to reach the final of the ITF M15 tournament.
The 21-year-old Estonian and the Finnish player, two years his senior, battled evenly throughout the opening set, with neither able to break the other's serve. In the tiebreak, however, the Finn came out on top, winning 7–4.
In set two, Vasa managed to break the Estonian's serve and took a 4–2 lead, but Ojakäär responded emphatically, winning the next three games before sealing the set 7–5.
Ojakäär carried this momentum into the decisive set, winning its opening three games. Overall, from trailing 4–2 in the second set, the Estonian then won eight of the next nine games over the rest of the second set and the third set, and completed an impressive 6–3 victory in the third set to advance to the final.
Ojakäär fired off 11 aces through the match, while the Finn recorded six, and both players committed four double faults. The Estonian earned 12 break-point opportunities and converted three of them. Vasa had eight chances to break serve but succeeded only once.
Ojakäär will face 18-year-old Briton Oliver Bonding (ATP No. 1032) in the final. Bonding defeated top seed Nicolas Arseneault (ATP No. 573) in the first round and fourth seed Dmitry Popko (ATP No. 661) in the semifinals. The final takes place on Sunday evening, California time.
--
Editor: Andrew Whyte, Kristjan Kallaste
