The decisive matches of the Northern Palmyra Trophies tournament were played in St. Petersburg. The third (and final) day of competition was eventful.
The final day of play was opened by the finalists of the youth tournament. In three games and a fierce fight, the 126th racket in the world among girls, 17-year-old Daria Shadchneva, won. By 7:5, 4:6, 10:3 she beat 16-year-old Victoria Milovanova.
After the match, Daria Shadchneva shared with “More!” Emotions from the final in Saint Petersburg:
“Before the match I wasn’t particularly worried because Vika and I trained with the same coach, in the same academy. When you go out, of course, it’s exciting when all the cameras are watching you, but then you get used to it and you’re not so worried anymore.
First day [турнира] it was very difficult. When I played the first set, I was shaking all over. In the second set the match was already ending. But today I didn’t feel that pressure.”
“Championship” also spoke with the finalists of the youth tournament in St. Petersburg. Wait for an interview with Daria and Victoria on our website.
Daria Shadchneva at a tournament in St. Petersburg
Photo: formulatx.com
The senior matches began with a score of 4-3 in favor of the Sphinxes team. However, the Lions did not play catch-up for long and secured a comfortable lead in the following matches.
First, the female pair Anastasia Potapova/Vera Zvonareva, representing “Lviv”, beat Yulia Putintseva/Veronika Kudermetova from the “Sphinxes” team in two games (6:4, 6:2) and equalized the overall score at 4:4 . Karen Khachanov then came out to the St. Petersburg public, who received him very warmly this weekend. The Russian defeated Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-3. Then the “Lions” surpassed the “Sphinxes”.
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After his victory over Mannarino, Khachanov held a press conference, where he talked about recovering from an injury and his love for Russian cuisine, and also answered a question about possibly recording a track following the example of Andrei Rublev.
— Tell us, what are your musical preferences and, perhaps, like your colleague Andrei Rublev, would you like to perform something of your own? Or maybe even a duet?
“It seems to me that no matter how much I want to, my level is only karaoke.” This is my maximum potential (laughs). And Basta is my favorite performer.
Karen Khachanov at a tournament in St. Petersburg
Photo: formulatx.com
In parallel with Khachanov’s conference, a women’s match between Diana Schneider and Victoria Tomova began on the court. At that point the Lions were leading 5-4 and for the final match to remain intriguing, Schneider had to win. Only in the first set did Diana start to have big problems with the game. As a result: in the first match she lost 3-6, and in the second she let her rival hang up and lost 0-6. At the end of the match, the Russian seemed completely tired and upset.
Tomova’s successful performance gave the Lions a decisive point and put the team well ahead. As a result: the men’s final match between Alexander Shevchenko (Lions) and Alexander Bublik (Sphinxes) decided nothing. So the guys had a lot of room for jokes and improvisation. And they took advantage of it.
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Shevchenko and Bublik started the match quite calmly: sometimes they exchanged serves hand in hand, joking with each other and with the captains. But midway through the first game, they both played, started making brilliant plays, and started communicating with the fans.
With the score 3:2, the players decided to make a change: instead of Bublik, Nikolai Davydenko entered the court, and Shevchenko was temporarily replaced by Dmitry Tursunov. The last time Nikolai and Dmitry officially faced each other was in 2008 during the US Open. 15 years later, the former players have already held two rallies on the field. Tursunov pocketed both points for himself (or rather, for Alexander Shevchenko).
After that, Bublik and Shevchenko finished the match alone. Both were warmly supported by the stands, mostly children. On the final play, Bublik served for the match and, as the chair umpire pointed out, was out of contact. Both Alexanders were embarrassed by this mistake and came to the conclusion that there was no way out. With the result (7:5, 6:4), Bublik gives the final point to the Sphinxes with the victory.
Alexander Bublik, Alexander Shevchenko and Anastasia Potapova
Photo: formulatx.com
For the second year in a row, Svetlana Kuznetsova, as captain, wins the Northern Palmyra Trophies tournament. This time her team “Lions” beat the “Sphinxes” by one point: 6:5. As a result, both players were satisfied and the spectators were happy to see good tennis in St. Petersburg.
THE NAIS IS OFFICIAL EDITOR ON NAIS NEWS