The first day of men’s tennis tournament at the European Universities Games turned out to be the most rewarding one for Croatian and Polish players.
The beginning of the EUG tennis tournament was marked by typical summer weather. Despite earlier forecast of downpour at Zagreb’s Mladost Sports Park, the match was held under a sunny sky. The clear weather proved the most fruitful for Croatian and Polish men’s teams, who celebrated two wins by their best players.
The University of Zagreb and the University School of Physical Education from Wroclaw both emerged as victors in the first round of group A, while the VERN’ University of Applied Sciences from Zagreb and the Kozminski University from Warsaw excelled in group C. Apart from Croatian and Polish teams, the players from Joseph Fourier University, the University of Innsbruck, Istanbul Aydın University, and the University of Mainz also celebrated their victories.
Thanks to Matija Palinić’s and Goran Rožić’s outstanding performance in singles matches, the tennis players from the University of Zagreb were able to secure their victory over the British University of Stirling after the first two matches. Vanja Blažun and Ivan Lovrić won the third point for Zagreb’s team in a doubles match, without losing a single set.
“It was difficult to play in such heat, but the courts are amazing. The organizers did a great job preparing them,” said Palinić after his 6-3 victory over Sam M’Neil in the first singles match.
“M’Neil is a good player. I think he was counting on a concetration slip on my part. It was a physically demanding match, but it didn’t leave me feeling tired or in pain,” Palinić added.
The Wroclaw and the VERN’ team both celebrated a 2-1 victory over their opponents – the Erasmus University of Rotterdam for the Polish and the Portuguese University of Coimbra for the Croatian team.
The Kozminski University made their debut at the Games with a 3-0 victory over the University of St. Gallen, thanks to their players and Maciej Rajski, who rank among the top 600 tennis players in the world. After beating their Swiss opponents, the Polish players promised more victories at the Games.
Joseph Fourier University rolled into the next round after their 3-0 win over the Technical University of Ostrava in the first round of group B. Although the Czech players did not win a single set, there was plenty of suspense to be found in the second match of group B, which ended in a victory for the University of Innsbruck.
The University of Ljubljana suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Austrian players, which was an interesting twist after Matic Bevčar won the first point for Ljubljana. Patrick Ofner lifted the University of Innsbruck to a victory in a singles match, as well as the decisive Ofner/Manuel Belluti doubles match.
Istanbul Aydın University also celebrated their 2-1 victory over the Spanish Camilo José Cela University in group D. The hero of the Turkish team was Barkin Yalcinkale, who won two points for his team.
The Universitz of Mainz lifted their team to a 3-0 victory when they faced off against the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in group D. The German team played to their strenghts. Martin Olszowy and Jacques Negro celebrated their singles victories, while Marcel Fitzner and Christian Supke excelled in doubles.
Results
