Leo Borg falls on his ATP debut

With his father, the legendary Bjorn Borg, in the stands, Leo Borg lost in the first round of the qualifying round of the Andalucía Open against Evgeny Donskoy (128th ATP) by 6-1 and 6-0. With the slab of the 11 Grand Slams champion's last name on his back, the 17-year-old (with one more the Ice Viking won his first Roland Garros) tries to carve a path in the world of tennis. In it Marbella Anytech 365 He was making his debut in an ATP tournament, but was unable to make the final draw.

“I know that the comparison with my father will follow me all my life, and it is something with which I will have to live. But I have never seen it as something difficult, it is simply inevitable “, he told days ago in an interview on the International Federation website. Last week, he also received an invitation to the challenger (second step of the circuit) in Marbella, and lost in the first round against the Japanese Taro Daniel. His habitat, for the moment, is on the ITF tour and last month he won the junior competition in Porto Alegre (Brazil). Currently, it is 15th in the world ranking of the category.

“My father thinks I can play very well,” says Leo, who until the age of 12 devoted himself to soccer and played his father as a young man in the movie 'Borg vs McEnroe'. However, he was upset by his mother, Patricia Ostfeldt, who admitted to crying when she told him that she wanted to try tennis, because the last name weighs a lot.

Leo, who trained in Marbella with Feliciano López, was last summer at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor, but its base is in Stockholm. On the track of Hotel Puente Romano, which his father opened in 1979, took its first ATP step. Failed, for now.

MONTECARLO BEFORE ROOM

The Andalucía Open will serve as a prelude to the Monte Carlo Masters 1,000. On the poster, Pablo Carreño and Fabio Fognini they appear as favorites of a tournament from which they have been falling in recent days Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev or Roberto Bautista. The spotlight will also be on the young Carlos Alcaraz, who will make his debut against a player from the previous one. From this Monday, with the second round of the preliminary phase and the first round of the final draw, the tournament on Teledeporte (12:00).

In the previous Challenger, Italian Gianluca Mager defeated Jaume Munar 2-6, 6-3 and 6-2 in the final.