Livestreamed from Sofia, the Bulgarian International Championships will kick off this Friday. Here is everything you need to know.
After approximately seven months off the court, many players will be returning to our screens for the Future Series tournament in Bulgaria. We had a small renewal with the Latvia International at the end of August, however the tournament this weekend has attracted many notable players, including the world number 15 women’s doubles pair and Bulgarian stars, Stefani and Gabriela Stoeva.
The sisters have stated that they are very much looking forward to getting back to playing and their usual life. They are overwhelming favourites to take the women’s doubles title on home soil. It’s a tournament they have won five times in the last eight years. However, as we have seen in other sports, this time out can have interesting effects on performance.
Potential double gold?
Slovenia will be eyeing up the chance to win the double gold in men’s singles and mixed doubles. Miha Ivanič is seeded number one in men’s singles. The 2017 European Junior Championship mixed doubles bronze medallist will have to compete with other young upcoming talents in the form of Serbia’s Luka Milic and Aram Mahmoud of the Netherlands, who will be keen to catch the eye.
In the mixed doubles, the similarly named Miha Ivančič, with partner Petra Polanc, are top seeds. The category looks to be quite open, with second seeds, the Austro-Slovenian pair of Rüdiger Gnedt and Urska Polc posing an interesting claim for the title.
It is in the women’s singles where we will see several big European names fighting for the title. Local hero, Linda Zetchiri, who has won this tournament in 2006 and 2011, will be hunting for her treble. Although the second-seeded Czech player Kateřina Tomalová is confident that she can adapt to the challenge of returning to tournament mode when she says.
- I am really looking forward to playing a tournament after seven months! It’s a bit strange…but us players have to be ready for everything these days.