Jonas Forejtek last year he won the junior at the US Open, won the first title from the Futures tournament and made a successful debut in the Davis Cup. In February this year, he added a second triumph at the Futures event, but subsequently tennis was paralyzed for half a year due to a coronavirus pandemic and Czech talent fell out of pace.
During the break, he performed well at home exhibitions, when he won the Macha Lake Open, Moravia Open and played the finals at the Svijany Open, but after the restart of the season in August he had little reason to rejoice.
He lost three of the five matches in the domestic challengers, albeit against solid opponents, and especially the last two indoor Futures tournaments ended for him with surprising two-hundredth defeats in the first round.
Forejtek showed his potential to the tennis world only today in Sofia, Bulgaria, where he made his ATP debut thanks to a wild card from the organizers. And the premiere was a winning one.
The 19-year-old Czech stepped on the former world number three and winner of the US Open in 2014 Marina Čiliče. Thirteen-year-old Croatian, who has had his most unsuccessful season yet, defeated 6-3 6-2 smoothly.
Forejtek, who closes the fourth hundred in the current ATP rankings, decided the match with a successful passage at the turn of both sets. From 3-3 in the opening set, he gained seven games in a row and didn’t take a 4-0 lead in the second. After 67 minutes of play, he turned into a fourth match ball.
Jonas Forejtek has arrived on the ATP Tour!
What a moment for the former ITF Junior World No. 1 and 2019 US Open boys’ singles champion
: @TennisTV | @sofiaopentennis | #SofiaOpenpic.twitter.com/gtKjNG4hKh
— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 9, 2020
Currently, the 41st player in the world, Čilič, has played 12 tournaments this year and will end the season for the first time in his career without a single quarterfinal. His maximum is the January eight finals at the Australian Open.
Forejtek, who has not yet won two matches in a row on the challengers, will compete for the promotion to the quarterfinals with the winner of the duel between the Spaniard Robert Carballés and Richard Gasquet from France.
Nikoloz Basilašvili Although today he interrupted a series of lost sets in Sofia (19 including today’s match), nevertheless for the lucky loser and the 149th player in the world Marca-Andreu Hüslera not enough and lost 1-6 6-4 6-7 (6), although he was twice the ball from the progress.
The Georgian tennis player recorded the ninth defeat in a row after the restart of the season. In the second round, Hüsler will face Jannik Sinner or Márton Fucsovics.
The paper favorites are Canadian youngsters
The highest-ranked indoor company ATP 250 in the Bulgarian capital are Canadians Denis Shapovalov and Felix Auger-Aliassime.
Twenty-one-year-old Shapovalov, who has had shoulder problems in recent weeks, will play the ATP tournament for the first time as the number one seed and is still fighting for the position of first substitute for the Champions Tournament. To do so, he needs to at least advance to the finals, which would ensure him overwintering in the Top 10. He will start in the second round against Radu Albot from Moldova.
Twenty-year-old Auger-Aliassime, who yesterday sensationally won the doubles at the Masters 1000 in Paris with Pole Hubert Hurkacz, will play with Italian Salvator Carus to advance to the quarterfinals.
| • Singles – Round 1 • |
| Forejtek (CZE) – Čilič (8-Croatia) 6-3 6-2 |
| Mannarino (5-Fr.) – Kližan (SR) 3-6 6-1 7-5 |
| Hüsler (SWITZERLAND) – Basilashvili (7-GEO) 6-1 4-6 7-6 (6) |
| Karacev (Rus.) – Daniel (Jap.) 7-6(2) 6-1 |
| Gerasimov (BEL) – Troicki (SRB) 6-3 3-6 6-3 |
| Caruso (It.) – Kuzmanov (Bulh.) 4-6 6-4 6-4 |
| Pospisil (CAN) – Marčenko (UKR) 6-2 5-7 7-6 (5) |
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