Friday brought another scorching day at the AZS courts and was the first day of the tournament devoted entirely to quarterfinals. Sixteen matches across four courts produced the complete semifinal line-ups in all four competitions.
For the hosts, the day had two very different sides. Poland’s presence in the singles came to an end as the last two home players were eliminated. In doubles, however, two Polish pairs reached the last four — one in the boys’ competition and one in the girls’.
JĘDRYKA AND JEŻ BOW OUT
Jakub Jędryka, the only quarterfinalist to have come through all three rounds of qualifying, faced third-seeded Serbian Djordje Sapic and lost 2–6, 5–7.
Wiktor Jeż began his match against Spain’s Jorge Martinez Vasquez by winning the opening set, but then surrendered the next two, taking only one game in the second and none in the third. Tournament director Jacek Muzolf had no doubt about what had made the difference — in his view, the heat had a clearly negative effect on the Polish player.
TOP SEED FALLS IN THREE SETS
The biggest result of the day in the boys’ draw belonged to Marco Meacci. The fifth-seeded Italian defeated Indian top seed Tavish Pahwa in three sets, closing out the deciding set 7–5.
The fourth quarterfinal was decided in straight sets, with fourth seed Nikolai Shibani defeating Belgium’s Nicolas Fays 6–3, 6–3. In Saturday’s semifinals, Meacci will face Sapic, while Shibani will play Vasquez. The Spaniard is the only unseeded player among the final four.
OLIVERIUSOVA SURVIVES TWO TIE-BREAKS
Tamina Saken came closest to causing an upset in the girls’ competition. The Kazakh pushed second-seeded Czech Sara Oliveriusova all the way but eventually lost after two tie-breaks — the first 4–7 and the second 3–7.
Yerkezhan Zhanatayeva needed three sets after losing the opener to Slovakia’s Diana Petrasova. She then conceded only six games across the next two sets. Elly Meszarosova won the all-Czech encounter with Natalie Irahol 6–1, 6–3, while Katerina Filipova defeated Romania’s Ana Chindris 6–2, 6–4. In the semifinals, Zhanatayeva will face Meszarosova, while Filipova will meet Oliveriusova.
KASPERSKI AND PLENKIEWICZ TAKE DOWN ANOTHER PAIR
Polish hopes shifted to the doubles competition. One day after eliminating the fourth seeds, Antoni Kasperski and Hubert Plenkiewicz comfortably defeated Mattia Pescosolido and Itamar Verthaimer.
VerthaimerIn the girls’ competition, Zofia Janusz and Martyna Sikora of AZS Poznań reached the semifinals. In their quarterfinal, they faced a pair with a Polish connection — Aleksandra Zapława and Kazakhstan’s Karolina Ligai — and won 6–3, 7–5. The other Polish pair, 15-year-olds Maja Maksimowicz and Wiktoria Szychowska, were stopped by top seeds Caroline Hermanns and Anna-Adelina Nykyforuk, who won 6–4, 6–1. Fourth seeds Katerina Filipova and Nela Padrnosova were also eliminated, losing 2–6, 3–6 to the Finnish pairing of Milla Kotamaki and Emma Tuominen.
The top seeds also fell in the boys’ doubles. Tavish Pahwa and Djordje Sapic lost 3–6, 4–6 to the Ukrainian team of Tymur Chukanov and Volodymyr Revenko. Both had also played singles quarterfinals earlier that day, with Sapic winning his match.
The longest doubles match of the day featured third seeds Ivan Charnyshou and Akhmadi Makhanov against Alexander Chmielewski and Rodion Traigel. After losing the opening set and winning the second in a tie-break, Charnyshou and Makhanov took the deciding super tie-break 13–11.
TWENTY-FIVE COUNTRIES — A RECORD FOR THE 50TH EDITION
This year’s tournament features boys and girls representing 25 countries — from India and Kazakhstan through Taiwan to the United States, Great Britain and most of continental Europe. As the tournament director emphasised, no previous edition of the Wojciech Fibak Grand Prix has brought together players from so many nations.
Wojciech Fibak once again appeared at the AZS courts. The tournament patron has been present every day since Monday, closely following the matches and supporting the young players from courtside.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Saturday will be semifinal day, with one exception. The girls’ doubles final will be played at the end of the day on Court 1. The boys’ doubles final will take place as scheduled on Sunday.
Play begins at 9:30 AM across three courts. The day will open with the boys’ singles semifinal between Meacci and Sapic on Court 1, alongside the two girls’ semifinals: Filipova against Oliveriusova and Zhanatayeva against Meszarosova.
The doubles semifinals begin at 11:00 AM. Zofia Janusz and Martyna Sikora will face second seeds Ching Ying Chen and Yen-Ni Chiang. One hour later, Antoni Kasperski and Hubert Plenkiewicz will play the tournament’s second-seeded pair, Nicolas Fays and Marco Meacci. The Italian will therefore have two matches that day — first his singles semifinal, followed by the doubles semifinal.
