The strongest tennis players of both countries will take part in the Latvian-Estonian match / Article / LSM.lv

At the end of July, the “Merks” tennis competition will take place in Tallinn, bringing together the strongest players of both countries, who will have the opportunity to test their strength before the resumption of competitions in men’s and women’s professional tours, the organizers announced on Tuesday.

The regulations of the tournament, organized for the first time, envisage playing both singles and doubles, with the participation of both men and women. 8 singles and 3 doubles are planned for two days on June 29 and 30.

It is expected that Latvia will be represented by Alona Ostapenko and Anastasia Sevastova for women, but in the men’s competition, along with Ernest Gulbis, there will be a new talent Kārlis Ozoliņš. Estonia is expected to participate with Anete Kontaveita and Kaija Kanepi, thus four world-ranking TOP 100 tennis players will take part in the women’s competition. For men, Estonians plan to announce their first racket, Jürgen Zopa and Vladimir Ivanov.

Both Ostapenko and Sevastova and Gulbis welcomed the organization of the “Merks” Cup, who will have the opportunity to play tennis after a break of almost five months.

Tournament director Riho Kalluss believes that in the current difficult conditions for the sports world, the Merks Cup will be a unique opportunity to host such a high-level tennis tournament in Estonia, which in previous years was not possible due to the calendar. “On the one hand, we offer athletes the opportunity to appear in front of the public and fight with other great players after a long break, on the other hand, it will also be an interesting summer sports event for spectators,” the organizers quoted Kallusu as saying.

Edgars Buļs, a representative of the event organizing committee, said that the idea of ​​a Latvian-Estonian tennis duel vibrated already in 2018 as another event of the centenary of Latvia, which failed to find a window in the saturated program of festivals and tennis tournaments. Bull stressed that the “Merks” Cup for tennis players will be a good preparation platform for official tournaments, which could resume in August.

The organizers are cooperating with the Estonian Health Service in organizing the tournament, so that visitors can safely enjoy the game.

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