On Thursday, the round of 16 in Men's Singles got underway. Whereas Toma Junior Popov won after a drama in three games, Lucas Corvee got knocked out of the tournament.
The Topsportcentrum Almere was the place to be on Day 3 of the YONEX Dutch Open 2018, especially for watching the Men's Singles matches.
As the first Men's Singles matches of the day, Toma Junior Popov, was playing against Toby Plenty from England at 1.00 PM (CET).
A drama in three games
After losing the first game with 16-21, Toma Junior Popov, won with 21-12 in the second and 21-17 in the last game. The tight match between the French and the Englishman lasted 58 minutes in total.
- I am proud because it is a big victory against Toby, he is such a good player. In the first game, he dominated the net and moved faster, but in the second one, I woke up and found the strategy that I kept till the end, says Popov after the match.
For Toby Penty, there have been special circumstances in the hall:
- It was a tough match, it was a fast match in the hall. So, I found it hard to get a ryhthm and Toma played more solid at the important stages of the match, says Penty.
The Englishman knows how to improve to succeed in the future:
- I need to make sure that I execute my shots better at crucial stages and make a few small changes to impact the game at certain times. Today, I did that a bit too late.
- I want to keep being consistent with my results and performances at International Challenge level. After that leading into Christmas and new year, I need to get back to the training court and have a long period to improve my game, as it has been some time since I have had a long block of training.
Knocking out the fifth-seed
Toma Junior Popov is now playing in the quarter-finals. Thereby, the currently 69th world ranked has to face an underdog that just kicked out the fifth-seeded, Popov’s compatriot, Lucas Curvee.
As the second Men’s Singles match of the day, Alexander Roovers was playing against 44th world ranked and favourite, Lucas Corvee. But the German player took advantage of his role as an underdog: He won the match with 21-17 and 21-15.
The German player is currently ranked as number 91 in the world. The match between the 31-year-old Roovers and the 20-year-old Popov will take place on Friday.
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