LUKOVICA, June 7, 2020

The Pokal Mima Jausovec got underway on Saturday with the first seven matches played on the clay courts of the RCU Lukovica, situated in the eastern part of the Upper Carniola region in Slovenia.

The country’s best players are divided into two teams. Following the wins of Pia Čuk, Blaž Vidovič, Živa Falkner, Bor Artnak in singles as well as Tamara Zidanšek and Nina Potočnik in doubles, Team East leads 5:2 over Team West after the opening day. Saturday’s matches were headlined by the mixed doubles encounter when men’s top seed Aljaz Bedene and teenager Kaja Juvan defeated Blaz Rola alongside women’s top seed Polona Hercog in three sets.

Slovenia’s only Grand Slam champion, Mima Jausovec, winner of the 1977 French Open, also attended the matches.

“I was already enthusiastic about the players’ initiative to organize a charity tournament, but now that I see how well they manage the event, I am really proud that it is a tournament with a humanitarian note under my name,” 63-year-old Jausovec said.

“I hope the tournament becomes traditional. Although I am from Maribor, I promise to support both the team from the East and the West, as they are our best tennis players. I also hope that my racket, with which I defeated Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in 1974, will find a real tennis fan at the charity auction.”

The auction of sports equipment including the jerseys of Luka Dončić and Leo Messi as well as the rackets of Mima Jaušovec, Polona Hercog and Aljaž Bedene will take place until Wednesday, June 10. For more information, please visit the tournament’s official website.

Results Saturday (East – West 5:2):

Čuk – Pislak 1:4, 4:3, 10:7

Vidovic – Dimic 4:1, 4:0

Falkner – Cvetkovic 4:1, 4:0

Artnak – Jeran 4:1, 4:1

Zidanšek / Potočnik – Jakupovič / Radišič 4:0, 4:1

Ternar / Urbanija – Kavčič / Kočevar Dešman 1:4, 2:4

Rola / Herzog – Bedene / Juvan 4:3, 2:4, 9:11