Mark Lajal falls just short of entering US Open qualifying
Top Estonian men's tennis player Mark Lajal narrowly missed out on singles qualification for the US Open, taking place later this month.
The 20-year-old was hoping to make his grand slam debut at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, the last of the four big tournaments for this year.
Lajal is ranked 224th in the world and is three places below the qualification line – four other players leapfrogged him into the tournament via the protected qualifier system.
The last Estonian male tennis player to qualify for a grand slam tournament was Jürgen Zopp, who retired in late 2020.
Zopp made it to the main draw at all four competitions – the Australian Open, the French Open, the Wimbledon Championships and the U.S. Open – once progressing as far as round three in France.
128 men (ATP) and 128 women (WTA) go through qualification, with the top 16 of each progressing to the main draw.
Qualifying for the US Open starts on August 22; the main event commences six days later.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Maarja Värv
Source: ERR Sport
