They've teamed up for the doubles but have the dubious task of taking on the 2nd seeds, Klymenko and Westerhof (UKR/NED), in round one! Both singles matches today.
31 Q CZE BLECHA, Jan lost to 32 372 GBR GOODALL, Joshua [2] 6-4 6-2
23 643 SUI GUENAT, Mathieu lost to 24 406 GBR SLABINSKY, Alexander [3] 6-2 6-2
Better start than last week. With a bit of luck and a following wind they both should progress further in the tournament. The doubles is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon.
spoke to Alex he said: "I played well yesterday, tried to take a bit of pace off my shots and go for more height on the ball, only attacking shots I was certain to put away. It's so hard to play aggressive tennis out here, you can't crack an egg on the courts. Risks don't pay off because the guys get there and make you play an extra shot every time."
He's got the Portuguese wc in rd2 tomorrow, apparently they played last year and Alex won in 3, he's a grinder - just doesn't miss so it'll be a long, long match"
Ionita is a tough draw for Slabba, he is lowly ranked but that is only because he coming back after a 6 month injury lay-off, he has a career high of 187 and he qualified and won the Portugal futures last week.
Great news, two more wins under the belt. Would expect Josh to win a tournament like this, would be great to see him climbing those rankings again, and nice to see Alex consolidating last winter's progress.