It is time for the Grand Finals Now that the dust from the semifinals has settled we look towards the remaining finals on 2018’s Kungens Kanna & Drottningens Pris.
Two of the tournament-favourites, top Europe ranked Diana Shnaider (RUS) and the younger Linda Fruhvirtova (CZE), faced off against each other in the first semifinal of the day. The young Czech set a pace that Shnaider was not able to follow, quickly ending the match 6-1, 6-2, a stellar performance that matched her reputation of being a future star.
The Russian suffered from a minor injury that may have hampered her level in the match. However, later in the day she went on to win the doubles semifinal with her Estonian partner Aurelia Riga. Shnaider will want to avenge her loss tomorrow in the doubles final, where she again faces Fruhvirtova and Barbora Palicova, who is also from the Czech Republic.
Although before that, the Czech duo will duke it out against each other in the grand finals of Drottningens Pris. Palicova has throughout the tournament shown a very high level of tennis. She narrowly beat out the Belarusian Aliona Falei 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in their semifinal match. It is worth mentioning that Fruhvirtova and Palicova made up 2/3 of the Czech team that just three weeks ago won the Winter Cups.
The singles final of Kungens Kanna also has a player of younger age, the Belgian Alexander Blockx. He made it there by beating the left handed Pole Pieczonka. For the third day in a row Blockx won first set after an intense tiebreak, but in this match he immediately followed it up with the second set.
In the grand finale he faces the ice cold Russian, Artur Kukasian, who won his earlier match in a dramatic fashion against the Frenchman Arthur Fils 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1). Kukasian managed to keep his cool and finished the tiebreak dominantly.
We hope to see many tennis-interested Stockholmians make it down to the Royal Tennis Hall by noon tomorrow to witness the incredible level of tennis that these young stars are able produce, and to see who the next champions of Kungens Kanna & Drottningens Pris will be.