Mark Lajal reaches ATP Challenger 175 main table in Aix-en-Provence
Top Estonian player Mark Lajal has reached the main draw of the ATP Challenger 175 tournament in Aix-en-Provence, France after defeating veteran French player Benoît Paire 6–0, 6–1 in the final qualification round, lasting only 43 minutes.
Lajal had beaten Maxime Chazal, also from France, in the first qualifier.
Paire, 35, once ranked 18th in the world in 2016, now sits at 466th, compared to Lajal's 199th.
The Estonian faced no break points; his first serve success rate was 87 percent, and he won 76 percent of points on his first serve. Paire's stats were 49 percent and 50 percent.
Lajal will face Arthur Rinderknech (ATP 76), France's sixth seed, in round one. The two have never played each other.
Australian Alexei Popyrin, ranked 26th, is the top seed. Other notable players include three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka (ATP 158), Finland's Otto Virtanen (ATP 129), and big-serving American Reilly Opelka (ATP 103).
Things didn't go as well for Estonian women's number one Elena Malõgina (WTA 478), who was defeated by Australian Taylah Preston (WTA 211) 6–2, 6–3 in the first round of the W100-level ITF tournament in Wiesbaden, Germany. She and partner Nastasja Schunk also lost in the doubles first round, 6-4, 6-1, to fourth-seeded pair Veronika Erjavec (Slovenia) and Camilla Rosatello (Italy).
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Editor: Henrik Laever, Andrew Whyte
