The opening day of this year’s Denmark Open is in full swing, with many European players already in action or preparing to take to the court later today.
Fresh off their victory at last week’s Türkiye International Challenge, Bulgaria’s Gabriella and Stefani Stoeva showed impressive form earlier today, defeating India’s Selvam and Singhi 21–4, 21–11. The sisters enter the tournament brimming with confidence, having not lost a women’s doubles match since the World Championships.
Since then, they have claimed titles at the Belgian International, the Al Ain Masters Super 100, and most recently, the Türkiye International Challenge. Despite their strong results, the Stoevas have chosen to play smaller tournaments rather than being regulars on the World Tour. According to Stefani, this approach allows them to refine aspects of their game that they focus on in training. “It is helping us to try different things in our doubles, to play more aggressively, and I think it is helping us for sure. Our communication is much better than before,” she explained.
While competing at lower-tier tournaments has led to multiple titles, It is not just about winning, Stefani: “We try to help the younger players after us, to give them advice and share our experience when we play with them on court, and that is why we sometimes play lower-ranked tournaments,” she said.
Although women’s doubles remains their main priority, playing smaller events also gives the sisters other opportunities. Gabriella, for example, is partnering with Evgeni Panev in mixed doubles, a pairing that wouldn’t be possible on the World Tour, while Stefani has even returned to competing in singles.
On Wednesday, however, the focus will return to women’s doubles, when the Stoevas face the winner of the match between fourth seeds Iwanaga/Nakanishi, and Indonesia’s Mayasari/Pratiwi in the second round.
In other results, Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour recorded an impressive win over eighth seed Tunjung from Indonesia. Tunjung, who is still working her way back from injury, was unable to find her best form, but Gilmour nonetheless played a great match to win 21–7, 21–14.
France’s Christo Popov finally overcame Lin Chun-Yi of Chinese Taipei, who had led their head-to-head 2–0 before today. Popov sealed a straight-games victory, 21–13, 23–21.
Meanwhile, Julie Macpherson/Alexander Dunn also advanced to the next round, defeating Thailand’s Teeraratsakul/Taerattanachai 21–19, 21–17.
The full schedule for the Denmark Open can be found here.
