The Bulgarian tennis player Alexander Vassilev has suspended his participation in the international clay court tournament in Kurshumlijska Banja (Serbia), which has a prize fund of 30 thousand dollars. Our 19-year-old Davis Cup national, who was seeded No. 7 in the main draw for singles, registered defeats in both the individual competition and the duets during today's competition day.
In the quarterfinal phase of singles, the native talent was stopped by fourth-seeded Marat Sharipov from Russia. Vassilev lost to his opponent with a score of 1:6, 1:6 in a match that lasted just over an hour, BTA reported. During the match, the Bulgarian encountered serious difficulties with his own opening shot and allowed a total of six breaks, which did not allow him to offer more serious resistance to the steadily playing Sharipov.
A little later in the day, Alexander Vassilev also took to the court for his semifinal clash in the doubles competition. Together with his partner Timofey Derepasko (Russia), they played an extremely dramatic and equal match against the representatives of the hosts, Kristijan Juhasz and Stefan Popovic from Serbia. The Bulgarian-Russian tandem won the first set 6:4, but allowed a reversal after 5:7 in the second part. In the decisive long tiebreak, luck and concentration helped the Serbian players, who snatched the victory with 10-7 points, informs BNR.
Despite today's two losses, Alexander Vassilev sends a positive week to Serbia, after yesterday eliminating his compatriot George Lazarov, and before that he also recorded a prestigious turnaround at the start against Mihajlo Savic. The young man from Pleven, who last season reached the final of the juniors at the US Open, continues to accumulate valuable points for the world ATP ranking for men in his transition to professional men's tennis, adds BNT.