(by Steve Hopkins)

World No. 6, Hugo Calderano, had a relatively easy 4-0 win over World No. 5 Felix Lebrun to claim the 2024 WTT Star Contender Ljubjana title.  For Calderano, he spread two lost games over his five match wins, defeating Anders Lind, An Jaehyun, Mattias Falck, Cho Daessong, and Lebrun.  Felix Lebrun started as dominant with 3-0 wins over Nuytinck and Boll before much tighter 3-2 wins over Groth and Harimoto.  That long 3-2 win over Tomokazu Harimoto may have affected his same-day Final with Calderano.

Calderano benefitted from USA’s Jinbao Ma upset of Anton Kallberg, effectively eliminating the top ranked player in that fourth of the draw.  Jinbao lost in the next round against Falck, but he had a solid showing with wins over Apolonia and Kallberg and he had a 2-0 lead before Falck mounted the comeback that eliminated him.

Another American, Lily Zhang logged two wins before falling in the Round of 16.  Zhang topped Singeorzan and Kim Nayeong before losing 1-3 to Hina Hayata.  Hayata went on the win the tournament – the Final was a 4-0 win over Prithka Pavade.  Puerto Rico’s Adriana Diaz also had a deep run, falling in the Quarterfinals to Miwa Harimoto (but only after winning three matches).

Anton Kallberg teamed with Kristian Karlsson to win Men’s Doubles, Miyuu Kihara and Miyu Nagasaki won Women’s Doubles, and Hina Hayata and Tomokazu Harimoto won Mixed Doubles.

The WTT Tour next heads to Lagos.  Hugo Calderano will be the top seed when action gets under way later in the week – he’ll have to contend with Ovtcharov and Aruna as the top seeds battle for ever-important ranking points.

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