The Dutch representation was limited this year in Umag. Only in the doubles was the Netherlands represented by the duo David Pel and Sander Arends. That representation was short-lived, because they already lost in the first round. Their opponents turned out to be the finalists and it was a miracle they weren’t the eventual winners, as by leading 6-0 in the tie-break of the second set, after winning 7-5 in the first, they had the title up for grabs. In a previous item you could have read that things went differently. Arends and Pel had thus lost to the finalists (and almost to the later champions). You don’t buy bread for it, but if you still have to lose in the first round, it hurts a little less afterwards if that turns out to be to the later finalist or the winner. Arends and Pel came back excellently after a first lost set (3-6). A tie-break in the second set had to be played. If they had won it, things could have turned out very differently. But “if” doesn’t count in sports. And since the Finnish/English couple Heliovaare and Glasspoor won the tie-break (7-2) they continued and the final station was reached in Umag for Arends and Pel. Very unfortunate but they turned out to be sporty losers, especially to the tennis fans. Lost game or not, everyone who asked for it got an autograph and a big smile. Two German girls for example were asked for their names, and with the signatures of both players on their big yellow tennis balls they left the court completely gilded. Despite loss, still happy fans!
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