Europeans dominate men’s qualification at Fort Lauderdale Major

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Tobi Winter (nearest ball) retrieves the Mikasa as partner Robin Seidl looks on

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New Austrian team Winter/Seidl made an impressive start to their partnership with an excellent straight sets win over Germans Dollinger/Erdmann on day one of the Fort Lauderdale Major.

The pair, who joined forces this winter following Seidl’s appearance at the Rio Olympics, got off to the perfect start in Florida by winning both sets 21-17.

Their victory completed a good day for the European nation in the men’s tournament as Dressler/Kunert battled past Norwegians Bergerud/Solhaug. The Austrians edged a narrow first set 24-22 before finishing the job 21-14 in the second.

As the crowds flocked to the side courts on a sunny day at Fort Lauderdale Beach Park, the home crowd witnessed a classic on court 2 as Americans Trevor Crabb and Sean Rosenthal squeezed past Berntsen/Sorum in a three-set thriller.

However, it wasn’t all smiles for the home fans as US team Slick/Allen were beaten by Swiss duo Beeler/Krattiger. The Europeans lost the first set but fought back brilliantly to secure a place in the main draw.

In comparison to the women’s tournament, only one Brazilian men’s team faced a qualification match but fans of Alvaro Filho and Saymon Barbosa had little to worry about as they blitzed Thiercy/Di Giantommaso of France in straight sets.

Don’t forget you can watch all of these matches again on our BeachStream service. Live action will resume on Wednesday when the main draw kicks in.