It is rare for a singles match to exceed 90 minutes of play. Toma Junior Popov took up the challenge on Wednesday in the first round of the China Open, a Super 1000 category tournament, the highest grade on the World Tour circuit. . The Frenchman paced the Changzhou court for 1h35 against the Malaysian Leong Jun Hao.
The effort was worth it: victory awaited him at the end of a fierce encounter which almost escaped him (23-25, 26-24, 21-19). World number 19 in singles, Popov took the upper hand against the No. 29 after erasing five match shuttlecocks in the second set. And he still had to come back from a 13-16 deficit in the third set.
“A big battle with crazy rallies”
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