For the last time in 2020 the top European players enter court. One of them, Toma Junior Popov, got the perfect start.

Many players have entered SaarLorLux Open as it will be the last tournament in a while. One of the players in the tournament is Toma Junior Popov. He played his first match against Joran Kweekel from the Netherlands, which Popov won 21-18 21-16. 

- After six months without tournaments, I was a little nervous to get back on court, but after I stepped on court everything was okay. But these six months were hard to manage as we did not know when the tournaments would be back, so we did not have any goals or could prepare ourselves, Popov stated. 

“Killer mode”

Popov also played the Denmark Open two weeks ago but lost out in the second round to Jan O Jorgensen, who retired on homecourt. Many players talk about this “tournament mode” where they can block out everything and just focus on the match, putting some words to this, Popov said. 

- We need to be back on “tournament mode” or “killer mode” but I think at this level everybody is a competitor, so it is fine, Popov said. 

With no tournament flow for many months it can be difficult to know your exact level compared to your opponents, when asking Popov what his expectations for the tournament were, he said.  

- When I play a tournament, it is always to win and to have a lot of victories. 

In the second round he will play against fifth seed Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus from Denmark. 

You can see the draw for the men’s singles here.