Elias, Erel, Durasovic advance in qualifiers

TDT | Manama                                                      

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Gastao Elias of Portugal, Yanki Erel of Turkey, and Viktor Durasovic of Norway were all victorious yesterday in their opening matches of the singles qualifying draw in the Bahrain Ministry of Interior Tennis Challenger 2024, part of the ATP Challenger Tour.

A rain-hit first day of play pushed a number of the qualifiers to today. Elias, fifth seed in qualifying, won his match 6-3, 6-1 against Marko Nikolic of Slovenia, while eighth-seeded Erel beat Russia’s Petr Bar Biryukov 6-4, 6-1.

Twelfth seed Durasovic overcame a tough challenge from Great Britain’s Ali Habib 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the final round of qualifying.

The victors occupy three of the 12 spots in qualification’s next and decisive stage, which will decide the six available spots in the singles main draw.

Elias and Erel will face off for one of those berths, while Durasovic will face either sixth seed Ergi Kirkin of Turkey or Petr Nesterov of Bulgaria.

There are nine matches still to be played in qualification’s opening round.

Delight Meanwhile, main draw top seed Christopher O’Connell from Australia expressed his delight in participating in Bahrain.

He highlighted that it is an excellent opportunity to showcase his performance by bringing out his skills and abilities in this tournament, and expressed his thanks for the excellent reception and hospitality.

Meanwhile, Bahraini player Yousef Qaed, who is already in the main draw, confirmed that he is ready to face second-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini in their first-round encounter.

Qaed said he will do his best to win as he proudly represents the Kingdom of Bahrain in this global competition.

Swede Elias Ymer, seeded eighth in the challenger, pointed out that this is his first time in Bahrain and hailed the excellent preparation and organisation.

“After my recent participation in the Australian Open, I am keen to participate in this tournament,” he said. “I will do my best to provide an outstanding performance and achieve victory.”