The fact that tennis is one of the world’s most popular sports is clear to see in this year’s Kungens Kanna & Drottningens Pris. Players from no less than 32 nations will be in the Royal Tennis Club of Stockholm.
The very top U14 players will fight for valuable points, more at stake than ever before, as the tournament is now a Super Category event.
It is hard to say who will be triumphant next Sunday with so many strong players. On the boys’ side keep an eye on Oleksandr Ponomar from the Ukraine who just came from winning Tarbes, that took place a few weeks ago.
Number one in the rankings right now is Turkey’s Atakan Karahan, who was in the final of this year’s first Super Category tournament in Russia and reached the semi-finals in Tarbes.
Nicolai Baruskov from Germany is on the way up and could cause some upsets. He has played very well so far this year and is still unbeaten in the Winter Cups where Germany has now reached the semi-finals.
In the Drottningens Pris, you have the fierce favourite Brenda Fruhvirtova from the Czech Republic. Brenda is the defending champion in Stockholm, and she also arrives confident, from her win in Tarbes.
Among other players to look out for, the British squad should put on a good show. The team has reached the semi-finals of the Winter Cups and has not yet lost a singles match.
Tomorrow Saturday we start with the qualifying matches. All players will need to fight hard to get into the main draw. Only one boy and a girl from Sweden are directly in the main draw. Other Swedes are in the qualifying through wild cards.