The tennis tournament at the European Universities Games has reached its climax. Many matches were played on Sunday as most of Saturday’s matches were postponed due to rain. At the end of what was a long tennis day, Erasmus University Rotterdam and the University of Innsbruck had reasons to celebrate as they qualified to the men’s final, while the University of Mainz and the University of Coimbra will clash for the women’s title.
The story of the day came from Mladost Sports Park where Innsbruck defeated two Polish teams. The Austrians first defeated the University School of Physical Education from Wroclaw, then proceeded to triumph over the Kozminski University from Warsaw in the semifinals, winning 2-1.
The semifinal victory was especially valuable considering that Kominski seemed untouchable in the earlier part of the tournament.
“We threw a big surprise, the feeling is fantastic and it’s hard to find words to describe this success. This is our first time at the Games, we didn’t know what to expect, but we’ve realized that we are good and that we’re getting better with each new match,’ said Patrick Ofner, one of two Innsbruck aces at the tournament.
Erasmus Rotterdam secured the final by winning 2-0 against Aydin Istanbul University. Both Stefan de Jong and Bart van der Berg won their singles.
The University of Mainz and the University of Coimbra will meet in the women’s final. These two teams have already met in the group stage of the tournament, when the Portuguese defeated the Germans 2-1. Now, Mainz will attempt to return the favor.
Mainz advanced to the final by defeating the British University of Stirling 2-0. Nathalie Scherdel admitted Sitrling was a desirable opponent in this stage of the competition.
‘The entire tournament is going very well for us. So far we have only lost one match, and we played against a somewhat easier opponent than the other semi-final pair’, said Scherdel.
Coimbra emerged victorious from the other semi-final, winning against the University of Bordeaux 2-1. The doubles match decided the outcome. Interestingly, both teams had previously defeated Croatian teams: The Portuguese defeated the University of Zagreb, while the French were better than Split.
Both men’s and women’s final will be held on Monday at 15.00 hours.
