It’s almost time for the 16th edition of the Swiss Open. A favourite tournament amongst Racketlon players and often one of the biggest ones. Let’s see what this weekend has in store for us, with some exciting matches to look forward to.
Enmer returns on tour after a long injury break
For World Champion Myriam Enmer this will be her first tournament of the season, after being sidelined with a thumb injury since December. Enmer won the event last year, and she will be top seed and favourite for this year’s event, but she will face tough opposition with several players sitting just outside the top 10 who are also looking for the title.
Enmer will play her first match against world no 29 Souin, and potentially faces world no 12 Flore Allègre in the semi-finals. Allègre made the final in Germany two weeks ago, and will have the confidence going into this tournament. At the bottom half of the draw, no 2 seed and home favourite Dara Ladner is playing her first match against world no 15 Stephanie Chung, a tough opening round for both women and a very exciting matchup. Last time they played was at the Nordic Racket Games where Chung came out on top, can she create another upset to make it to the semi-finals?
The other quarter-final is between Adeline Kilchenmann and world no 11 Nathalie Vogel. Vogel is in good form, winning the Nordic Racket Games last month. The women’s elite matches will start on Saturday 11:40am.
Lenggenhager looking for an IWT tournament win at home
Nicolas Lenggenhager will be looking for his second IWT singles title on home soil, as he comes into the tournament as top seed. It’s going to be a hard task with a very strong men’s draw, as most of the players are inside the world’s top 30.
Lenggenhager will play his first match against world no 22 Mandrin Mouchet, and will potentially face world no 18 Duthuillé in the quarter-finals. Duthuillé will first have to battle past wildcard and world no 118 Jimmy Tay, who won the Nordic Racket Games men’s B title in May. Swiss players Schaefer and Léon Mamié will face each other in their opening round, as New Zealand’s Sion Wiggin will look to continue his good form from the German Open as he is set to play world no 11 and 3/4 seed Oliver Bühler.
On the other side of the draw, Sylvain Ternon will be looking for his first IWT title, after making the final in Paris, Warsaw, and Nussloch. He will play his first match against Noah Mamié. World no 9 and 3/4 seed Lindberg will play world no 28 Patrick Oettl, as he is also looking for another title after winning the Polish Open and we could potentially see a repeat of that final in the semi-finals of this event. The other opening rounds are between world no 12 Harca and world no 26 Narayanaswamy, and a close matchup between world no 16 Andre and world no 14 Hougaard.
The men’s matches will start on Friday at 8:40PM and Saturday morning from 10:20 AM. The full draw can be found here
Vogel/Hougaard top seeds in the mixed doubles
Vogel/Hougaard are the top seeds for the mixed doubles, after a very successful Nordic Racket Games together. If all goes to seeding they will potentially face Chung/Lenggenhager in the final, which would be a repeat of the Nordic Racket Games, where Vogel/Hougaard won the match +7 (11-21 17-21 21-7 21-14). They first have to battle past other strong pairs, as Kilchenman/L Mamié play Allègre/Champod in their opening round. The other matches are between French duo Cavé/Quiquempois against Von Heimburg/Wiggin and Austrian duo Steiner/Harca will play no 2 seeds Chung/Lenggenhager.
Matches start on Friday at 9:20AM. The full draw can be found here
Champod/Ternon and N Mamié/Narayanaswamy top seeds in men’s elite doubles draw
Champod/Ternon are the top seeds for this event, and will aim to do one better as the last time they played together was in La Santa 2022 where they made the final. They will face either Lindberg/Tay or Bandi/Schaefer in their semi-final. The bottom half of the draw sees New Zealand’s duo Main/Wiggin play Switzerlands Lenggenhager/L Mamié in their first match. The winner will play no 2 seeds N Mamié/Narayanaswamy where we could potentially see the two brothers face each other.
The matches will start Friday 3PM. The full draws can be found here.
Kilchenmann/Maldre looking for first title together
Kilchenmann/Maldre will be looking for their first IWT title together in the women’s elite doubles. Both are experienced players with multiple doubles titles under their belt. They will play their first match against Cavé/Souin. No two seeds Chung/Steiner will play Allègre/Vogel in their opening match. None of the pairs have played together before and it will be interesting to see what happens this weekend.
The women’s elite doubles matches will start on Friday at 5:40PM. Full draws can be found here
The IWT Swiss Open will start with the elite mixed doubles, seniors +45 doubles and the mixed C amateur doubles in the morning. The Juniors will also play their first singles matches from 3:30PM where Andreas Kotala is top seed. The Friday matches can be found here. Make sure to keep an eye out for our social media updates throughout the tournament.
Sanne Veldkamp/ FIR Media Officer
