MARBELLA, March 30, 2021
Tuesday afternoon on Estadio Manolo Santana and all eyes were on Swedish teenager Leo Borg, who made his first appearance at the Club de Tenis Puente Romano in Marbella. The 17-year-old son of tennis legend Bjorn Bjorg fell to No. 6 seed Taro Daniel of Japan in the first round of the AnyTech365 Andalucia Open.
Leo and Bjorn: Are there many similarities in their style of game ? “I have discussed it with my father a few times and we are not alike,” Leo told Spanish national daily sport newspaper “Marca” ahead of his opening match. “He was more of a defensive player, who tried to keep the ball in play. I am more aggressive on the court. These are two completely different styles of play.”
Borg received a wild card into the main draw of the ATP Challenger 80 tournament but couldn’t capitalize on his chances against the World No. 118. Daniel saved both break points he faced and converted all of his four own break-point chances to secure a 6-1, 6-2 victory in one hour and nine minutes.
Transition from junior to senior level
It has been Borg’s only fifth appearance on the Pro Circuit. The teenager made his debut at senior’s level last year competing in two ATP Challenger events in Bergamo, Italy and Pau, France. At both occasions, Borg lost his first-round match to Chun-Hsing Tseng of Chinese Taipei and Latvian veteran Ernests Gulbis, respectively. However, he managed to record better results on the ITF World Tennis Juniors Tour. Here, Borg has clinched three singles titles, two of them earlier this season, highlighted by his triumph at the Grade 1 tournament in Porto Alegre, Brazil.
“Firstly I want to become a professional and make a living from tennis. In the future I would like to reach the Top 10,” Borg said about his goals.
“I have come to Marbella to learn, to play good matches and I hope to win some recording my first ATP points,” he said and will stay at the Costa del Sol for at least another couple of days. Borg received a wild card into the qualifying of the AnyTech365 Andalucia Open ATP 250 tournament starting on Sunday.
Daniel will next take on Carlos Gomez-Herrera, who emerged victorious from the battle of the Spanish qualifiers, beating Carlos Gimeno Valero, recent champion of the Gran Canaria Challenger II, 7-6(10), 7-6(5) after two hours and 18 minutes.
Leo BORG 🇸🇪 no ha podido con Taro DANIEL 🇯🇵
El japonés ha superado al sueco 61 62, se verá las caras con Carlos GÓMEZ-HERRERA en la siguiente ronda.#andaluciaopen pic.twitter.com/QMp9idkBaQ
— AnyTech365 Andalucía Open (@AndaluciaOpen) March 30, 2021
Janvier beats Gombos
French alternate Maxime Janvier caused the upset of the day by knocking out World No. 98 and No. 2 seed Nobert Gombos of Slovakia 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3. The 24-year-old Creil native, who reached the semi-finals on home soil at last week’s indoor Challenger event in Lille, outpointed his rival 98-92 after two hours and 24 minutes. Up next for Janvier will be Nikola Milojevic, who lifted the trophy of the inaugural Zadar Open last Sunday. The World No. 148 battled past fellow Serbian Danilo Petrovic 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 after two hours and 14 minutes.
Third favourite Jaume Munar edged past Sebastian Ofner from Austria 7-6(3), 6-4. The 23-year-old Spaniard won 53 per cent of the total points played to prevail after one hour and 38 minutes. Munar will next oppose Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva, who outlasted his compatriot Lukas Rosol 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 after two hours and seven minutes.
In the top half of the draw, No. 4 seed Gianluca Mager eased past Spanish qualifier Carlos Sanchez Jover 6-3, 6-2. The World No. 102 from Italy struck eight aces and didn’t face a break point to advance in one hour and 15 minutes to meet Elias Ymer next. The 24-year-old Swede cruised to 6-1, 6-2 win over qualifier Javier Barranco Cosano from Spain. The encounter lasted 66 minutes.
➡️Resultados del día:
VILELLA MARTINEZ🇪🇸 a Lorenzo GIUSTINO🇮🇹 76(4) 60
YMER🇸🇪 a BARRANCO COSANO🇪🇸 61 62
KOPRIVA🇨🇿 a ROSOL🇨🇿 63 36 75
MAGER🇮🇹 a SANCHEZ JOVER🇪🇸 63 62
GÓMEZ-HERRERA🇪🇸 a GIMENO VALERO🇪🇸 76(10) 76(5)
JANVIER🇫🇷 a GOMBOS🇸🇰 64 67(4) 63#andaluciaopen (1/2)— AnyTech365 Andalucía Open (@AndaluciaOpen) March 30, 2021
