Carlos Alcarazlast champion of Wimbledonwill debut this coming Monday against a young man who, surprisingly, advanced almost without breaking a sweat in the qualy of the third Grand Slam tournament of the season. We are talking about Mark Lajal (N°262 del ranking mundial ATP)a boy from Estonia who is only 21 years old and has never competed in a tournament in his career major.
Mark Lajal, the young Estonian who will look to give the blow against Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon. ATP
Possessing a very particular look (his hair is adorned with blond dreadlocks), Mark Lajal comes from a family of extreme sports lovers. “Actually, I wasn’t supposed to be a tennis player.” he confessed to the ATP in 2023. Both his father and grandfather were motocross and rally drivers, respectively.
“When I was younger, around three years old, I started racing motorcycles. I raced them until I was eight or nine years old.” He commented on his experience in motor sports. However, in his childhood his mother chose to take him to tennis and not to racing because he did not like it. This is how the racket came into the hands of He barkedwhen he was just a child. And from then on, his destiny changed.
MarkThat was born in Stable (capital of Estonia) in 2003, made his debut as a tennis player on the ITF circuit in 2021. At almost 18 years old, he appeared in an M15 in the city of Pamu and was defeated by his compatriot Kenneth Raisma. However, by the end of that year and after some victories in tournaments in Heraklion (Greece), he obtained his first ATP points and wrote his name in the ATP world rankings.
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Three titles on the ITF world circuit during 2022 generated a great jump in the world ranking and, by 2023, he appears among the 400 best players in the world in a country with very little tennis tradition. And there he appeared in the world of Challengers, with conquests in Little Rock (vs. Beibit Zhukayev) and a semifinal in Bergamo with a loss to former Top 10 David Goffin that left him on the verge of the grand final.
Despite his youth and the fact that he had begun to win important titles and triumphs, he still had to make his mark. His only ATP participation occurred in Antwerp 2023 with a surprising victory against Jaume Munar in straight sets and a more than worthy defeat against Arthur Fils after losing the two tiebreaks he played against the always difficult Frenchman.
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As for the Grand Slam tournaments, he only played the qualy of the US Open 2023, Australian Open 2024 and Roland Garros 2024 with a record of zero wins and three losses. That’s why this performance at Wimbledon is more than surprising. On his way to the main draw he defeated Franceso Passaro (5-7, 6-3 and 6-3), Henrique Rocha (7-6 (3) and 6-3) and on the last day he made a splash against James Duckworth by beating the former Top 50 player 6-4, 6-4 and 6-4.
The Rastafarian of Stable will be looking to make the first big splash of his career on none other than the centre court of the oldest tennis tournament in the world. On the other side of the net will be none other than the defending champion and the most recent winner of Roland Garros. Will young Mark Lajal be able to surprise everyone and claim the best victory of his life?
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2024-06-30 17:56:28
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