Tuesday brought a double round of action in Poznań. Twenty-four matches were played across six courts, covering the second and third — and final — rounds of qualifying in the boys’ and girls’ singles. By the evening, all eight players who had earned places in the main draw of the 50th Wojciech Fibak Grand Prix were known.
Six of those eight places went to Polish players. Jakub Zagol, Jakub Jedryka and Antoni Szary qualified in the boys’ competition, while Martyna Sikora, Anna Idaszewska and Maja Grosicka advanced in the girls’ draw. The line-up was completed by Italy’s Luca Maria Pomilio and Romania’s Ana Chindris.
MATCH OF THE DAY: GREEK V ITALIAN
Tuesday’s best match was played in the second round of the boys’ qualifying. Second seed Ektoras Tsatsakis of Greece faced Luca Maria Pomilio and was defeated only after a super tie-break featuring 28 points. The Italian won it 15–13 after surrendering the second set.
Wojciech Fibak watched the match from close range and made no secret of how impressed he was by the level of both players. The tournament patron was particularly struck by Pomilio’s one-handed backhand — a shot that has virtually disappeared from modern junior tennis.
The Italian confirmed his quality a few hours later. In the deciding round, he defeated Aleksander Bialowolski 7–6, 7–6, winning both tie-breaks and reaching the main draw without dropping a set.
ZAGOL KNOCKS OUT THE TOP SEED
The biggest upset of qualifying was produced by Jakub Zagol. The Pole advanced through the opening round by walkover before facing top-seeded Frenchman Evan Giurescu in the second round — and winning after closing out the opening set with a 10–8 tie-break.
Zagol gave Mateusz Nowak no chance in the qualifying final, winning 6–4, 6–3.
Antoni Szary followed an equally impressive path. On Monday, he eliminated fourth seed Ralfs Upenieks. On Tuesday, he faced another seeded player — Dawid Kielb. After winning the first-set tie-break, Szary moved 3–0 ahead in the second set before his opponent retired.
THREE POLISH WOMEN COMPLETE THE LINE-UP
In the girls’ competition, all four of the highest-ranked seeded players made it through qualifying without any major difficulties — with one exception. Sixth seed Maja Grosicka had to recover from a set down against Matylda Chedryk before securing her place in the main draw through a super tie-break.
Martyna Sikora, representing the host club AZS Poznań, defeated Nadia Jasińska 7–5, 6–3, while Anna Idaszewska of Park Tenisowy Olimpia beat Yuliya Nalivaika 6–3, 6–3. Jasińska will nevertheless compete in the main draw after receiving a place as a lucky loser.
THE ROMANIAN WHO WITHDREW BY MISTAKE
The most unusual story of qualifying belonged to Ana Chindris. The Romanian mistakenly withdrew from the main draw and, after realising her error, asked the organisers for a wild card into qualifying. She received one, won three rounds and earned her way back into the draw from which she had previously withdrawn.
Karolina Kriek, meanwhile, was eliminated from the tournament. The daughter of two-time Australian Open champion Johan Kriek lost in the second round, 3–6, 1–6. The second American player, Ania Zabost, also bowed out. In Poznań, she was coached by Paula Kania — a former Polish international and now a tennis commentator. Zabost won the opening set but eventually lost to Lidia Filipowicz in a super tie-break.
THE DRAW AND WHAT COMES NEXT
The main-draw ceremony also took place on Tuesday. Each first-round draw includes 12 Polish players — 24 Polish names among the 64 available places. None of them were drawn against a compatriot.
Several strong match-ups await from the very beginning. Anna Idaszewska will face top-seeded Dane Caroline Hermanns, Antoni Szary will play Italy’s Marco Meacci, Jakub Zagol will meet Belgian Nicolas Fayse, and Luca Maria Pomilio will take on Serbia’s Djordje Sapic. In a meeting between two players who came through qualifying, Ana Chindris will face Nadia Jasińska.
Wednesday will feature all 32 first-round matches in the main draw. Play begins at 9:00 AM on all six courts.
The complete order of play is available in the Order of play section, while the full draws can be found under Boys’ Draw and Girls’ Draw..
