The brothers Toma Junior and Christo Popov, associated in doubles and registered in singles for the first, having preferred to forfeit after their father and coach tested positive for Covid, the Blues will be only eight left in Huelva, Spain, to defend their chances at the Worlds which open this Sunday.
From heavy to simple
In the men’s draw, Brice Leverdez, 37th in the world, will be confronted, in the first round, with the Dane Rasmus Gemke (n°10), and Thomas Rouxel, 38th, with the Indonesian Sinisuka Ginting (n°5). “Two big first laps, believes coach Maxime Michel. In particular, Thomas will have to learn from his recent experiences at this level of play and he will have to manage his form as well as possible. »
Among the women, Qi Xuefei (n°42) will return to competition in the stronghold of champion Carolina Marin, three-time world champion and Olympic champion in 2016, since her injury which had prevented her from fully playing her luck. during the Olympic Games in Tokyo. She will face the Danish Line Hojmark Kjaersfeldt, 31st in the world, with ” nothing to loseaccording to Maxime Michel. The objective is above all to prove to herself that she can play again in competition and build her game to aim for the top 30 at first. » Marie Batomene (n°58) will meet the Russian Natalia Perminova (n°69) whom she has already beaten three times.
Mixed doubles top seed
Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue, back from a tour in Indonesia, and after their withdrawal from the French Open in October (Gicquel was injured), are exempt from the first round. They should then face the Danes Soby-Mikkelsen, against whom they lead two victories to zero but who, according to their coach Baptiste Careme, “have made progress since the beginning of their partnership”.
Delphine Delrue will not compete in the women’s doubles draw after her partner Léa Palermo was injured three months ago. And no other pair qualified. In men’s doubles, Fabien Delrue and William Villeger (n°63) will meet the Irish duo Magee-Reynolds in the first round (n°64).
