ATP:”Millennial” Adrian Andreev makes ATP history in Sofia

16-year-old Bulgarian Adrian Andreev is the first player born in 2001 to play a match in an ATP main field.

The millennials – i. e. the generation born after the year 2000 – are still on the advance. Destanee Aiava opened the round last year with her first-round victory at the WTA Premier Tournament in Brisbane. The then 16-year-old Australian was the first player from the 2000s to win a match in a WTA main field.

Jugend forscht was also the motto at the Australian Open in January. Marta Kostyuk, a 15-year-old Ukrainian, made it through to the third round of Melbourne after having qualified and won the main draw, losing to her compatriot Elina Svitolina. This made Kostyuk not only the first 15-year-old to win a Grand Slam in 13 years, but also the youngest winner of the Australian Open since Martina Hingis in 1996.

The change of generations is also in full swing for men. Blood-young Bulgarian Adrian Andreev was equipped with a wildcard by the officials of the ATP World Tour 250 tournament in Sofia. This makes him the first 2001 vintage player to serve in the main draw of an ATP tournament – provided Andreev takes on Denis Istomin for his first-round match.

Twelve months earlier, the 26th birthday had come to an end. of the junior world ranking in Bulgaria’s capital city already tried in the qualification. It was a short pleasure: After only 37 minutes Andreev Maximilian was defeated by Marterer with 2:6 and 0:6.

However, with his triumphs in the singles and doubles at the prestigious Eddie Herr International Junior Championchips in December, the youngster already indicated that a respectable success is possible this year.

Regardless of the result, Andreev will be the third player in the 1999 birth cohorts or younger to be in the main draw at an ATP tournament. Rudolf “Rudi” Molleker (Hamburg 2017) and Nicola Kuhn (Shenzhen 2017) got stuck on their opening hurdles. Fourth in the league is Australian Open Junior Champion Sebastian Korda, who was also equipped with a wildcard at the New York Open (from Sunday).

Here the single panel in Sofia