Gemke, Marin Top Contenders at SaarLorLux Open

Gemke, Marin Top Contenders at SaarLorLux Open
Rasmus Gemke, runner-up at the Denmark Open, is top-seeded at the SaarLorLux Open.

Rasmus Gemke and Carolina Marin, singles runners-up at the DANISA Denmark Open 2020, are top contenders at the SaarLorLux Open 2020 that began today.

Gemke, who caused quite a stir in Odense with a brilliant attacking performance, will start his campaign with a second round clash against compatriot Kim Bruun. The prominent names in his quarter are Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus, Felix Burestedt and Thomas Rouxel.

Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour is one of the contenders in women’s singles.

Marin, who lost to Nozomi Okuhara in Odense, is not expected to have a difficult path to the title here. Bulgaria’s Hristomira Popovska is up first, followed by Germany’s Fabienne Deprez or Miranda Wilson.

Perhaps the most intriguing first round battle could be that of Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour against fast-rising Dane Line Christophersen.

The bottom half has Denmark’s Line Kjaersfeldt, Germany’s Yvonne Li and Spain’s Beatriz Corrales; sixth seed Li, after a good performance in Denmark where she reached the semifinals, will fancy her chances of progressing into the final from her half.

Robin Tabeling and Selena Piek had a good run at the All England earlier this year.

Men’s Doubles: Second seeds Mark Lamsfuss/Marvin Seidel are the big guns in the draw; fans will also keep an eye on Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen/Niclas Nohr, Scotland’s Alexander Dunn/Adam Hall and Christopher Grimley/Matthew Grimley. It will also be interesting to see how far young Danish pair Jeppe Bay/Lasse Molhede, who nearly beat Vladimir Ivanov/Ivan Sozonov in Odense, can go.

Women’s Doubles: Top seeds Stefani Stoeva and Gabriela Stoeva are the frontrunners. Second seeds Maiken Fruergaard/Sara Thygesen, runners-up at the Indonesia Masters earlier this year, are their biggest challengers, while other contenders include Germany’s Linda Efler/Isabel Herttrich and France’s Emilie Lefel/Anne Tran. Young Danes Christine Busch/Amalie Schulz, semifinalists in Odense, will also be closely watched.

Mixed Doubles:  Second seeds Robin Tabeling/Selena Piek, Denmark Open champions Mark Lamsfuss/Isabel Herttrich, fourth seeds Mathias Christiansen/Alexandra Boje, and fifth seeds Ronan Labar/Anne Tran are the prominent names.

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