As the temperature rocketed to 33 degrees Celsius outside it was the young French squad that created all the heat on the court on the opening qualification day at the Polish Open. In a qualification entry list that was dominated primarily by men’s singles the French young guns proved there is plenty of talent in the pipeline to put pressure on the likes of top French duo Brice Leverdez and Matthieu Lo Ying Ping.

At the top end of the qualification draw the all action Julien Maio (pictured) was particularly impressive with three wins over local Polish opposition. In the final qualification match Maio was thoroughly convincing in beating top seeded qualifier Maciej Poulakowski in two games 21-12 21-19. The Frenchman now advances to the first round proper where he will meet Ondrej Kopriva of the Czech Republic.

On the adjoining court another of the French youngsters, Jocelyn Deschamp, was following in the footsteps of his compatriot as he advanced to the main draw proper with an equally impressive display in his qualification rounds. The young Frenchman was made to work hard in three games in the opening round against Dominik Zietek of Poland but went on to advance to the main draw with a 2 game defeat of Edgaras Slusnys of Lithuania in the final qualification round.

The French almost made it a hat trick of qualification victories but Antoine Lodiot came up short in three games against 4th seed Jaromir Janecak of Czech Republic in the final match of qualification.

Elsewhere Austrian Matthias Almer looks to be in good shape as he cruised through qualification with ease. The Austrian has developed both physically and tactically over the past twelve months and will fancy his chances in the first round proper against England’s Joshua Green.

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Article and Image by Mark Phelan (Live in Poland)