Mark Lajal comes from behind to beat US player in Yorkshire
Estonia's number one tennis player Mark Lajal came from a set down to win his round one encounter with Michael Zheng (U.S.) at the ATP Challenger 125 tournament in Ilkley, England, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5).
Lajal had gone through qualifying at the tournament, a grass-court event and one of several warm-ups for the Wimbledon Championships starting near the end of this month. While the Estonian won his first qualifier, he lost the second match to Briton Paul Jubb. However, since South African player Lloyd Harris pulled out, Lajal was able to take his berth and go through to the main draw in Yorkshire after all.
Lajal, 23, is ranked 147th in the world, while Zheng is a year younger than Lajal and ranked seven spots lower by the ATP.
On the day, Lajal lost his first service game in the opening set but immediately broke back in the following game. Near the end of the set, he fell behind by another break and ultimately went down 6–4. In the second set, Lajal took a 4–1 lead thanks to a break of serve and went on to win with the same scoreline he had lost the first set by.
This took things to a decider, and both players managed to hold their serves this time, and a tie-break scenario beckoned. In it, Lajal soon pulled ahead 4–1 and earned his first match point at 6–3, only for Zheng to win two consecutive points. Then at 6–5, the Estonian converted his third match point opportunity to seal the victory.
He faces Frenchman Arthur Gea, ranked 137th in the world, in round two. Gea had beaten sixth seed Italian Francesco Maestrelli (ATP No. 126) in three sets in his first-round encounter.
The top seed at the Ilkley tournament is Portugal's No. 3 player, Henrique Rocha (ATP No. 121).
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Henrik Laever
