The last time there was a Swedish player in the semifinals of Sweden’s best junior competition was when Mikael Ymer went to the final in Kungens Kanna back in 2012.
However, this Friday, Tiana Tian Deng, competing for Salk, made a flawless match against the talented Polish player Barbara Kostecka. Tiana controlled the game from start to finish and won easily 6–2, 6–2. It is a pleasant surprise to have this player from Salk still in the competition and the only unseeded player left in the girls’ singles. 17th-ranked Anna Pushkareva awaits in the semifinals.
In the second semifinal, top-seeded Giulia Safina Popa, Romania and Dusica Popovski from Serbia will go head-to-head.
On the boys’ side, the Portuguese Salvador Monteiro has reached the semifinals after a solid effort and now faces the hard-hitting Spaniard Valentin Gonzalez-Galino, seeded number two in the Kungens Kanna. This Saturday’s semifinal will be the battle for the Iberian Peninsula.
In the quarterfinals, Gonzalez-Galino defeated the physically strong Austrian Maximilian Heidlmair in a powerful exchange of brute force 6–4, 3–6, 6–1. In the boys’ second semifinal, Romanian Yannick Theodor Alexandrescou, seeded one, plays against qualifier Moise Kouame from France.
Saturday’s matches begin with the semifinals in Drottningens Pris at 11.00, followed by the semifinals in Kungens Kanna.