TRNAVA, September 21, 2015

Miloslav Mecir junior from Slovakia advanced into the main draw of ARIMEX Challenger Open 2015, the biggest men’s clay tennis tournament in Slovakia. € 42 500 in prize money including hospitality is guaranteed for this year’s event. The tournament is held from 19th – 27th September 2015 at the modern EMPIRE Tennis Club in the town of Trnava. In the final qualifying round, Mecir beat Austrian Pascal Brunner in two sets 6-1, 6-3. Mecir played in first week of May at challenger in Rome before competing in Trnava.

His ARIMEX Challenger Open wins were his first two at international event after four months. On Sunday, he eliminated Romanian Paval, on Monday Austrian Brunner.

“It was very similar match. Pretty straight forward win for me. I took the first set, I was leading in second. Then there were some complications. Opponent realised, what style of play does not suit me. He made it hard for me in the end. However I did the job today. I am glad to be in the main draw,” said Mecir.

Reasons, why he did not play more than four months were related to his health. “I had problems with disc. It pressed on nerves and it was painful. I had cramps in my legs and could not do sports at all. I could not do anything for a month. Then I had good regeneration for a month. After eight weeks, I started to play tennis and then I added some physical exercises. I am not in full strength at the moment, but this tournament is at home, so I really wanted to come here and play,” explained.

After advancing, Mecir surprised, saying he would like to continue with practice, because match was very short. “I feel great, I think about having one more practice session today, because the match was very quick.”

Son of the famous father wanted to break the deadlock in Trnava. “So far, I was unlucky not to achieve any result here. I believe, it will change this year. I was unlucky here during my youth career as well. I have phobia from this place to be honest, but I believe, I can make things happen this time,” added Mecir smiling.

He will meet Kamil Majchrzak in the first round of the main draw, which started on Monday with two matches. Fourth seed Albert Montanes defeated 19-year-old Slovakian wild card Martin Blasko, winning 6-3, 6-4 in 66 minutes and was pleased with his performance: “It was a tough match, but I played well today. I am happy with the win today. “

Michael Linzer knocked out another local wild Card, winning 6-0, 6-2 against Dominik Sproch in only 57 minutes. Linzer will take on the winner of the encounter between Trnava’s top-seed Robin Haase and Italian qualifier Riccardo Belotti.