Alcaraz meets table tennis stars in China
Carlos Alcaraz, who won the silver medal at the Paris Olympics earlier this year, crossed paths with fellow athletes and Paris Olympics medalists on Friday in Beijing. He met table tennis singles and team silver medalist Truls Moregardh of Sweden, French team bronze medalists Alexis Lebrun and Felix Lebrun, and Simon Gauzy.
The players were in attendance for Alcaraz’s opening match against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. The Spaniard, making a second appearance at the China Open, met the players after his straight-sets win against the Frenchman. The table tennis stars are in China for an event that runs through 6 October.
The Lebrun brothers are friends with Eduoard Roger-Vasselin, who is competing in doubles with Santiago Gonzalez at the China Open. The countrymen watched the conclusion of the Alcaraz-Mpetshi Perricard match together.
“I have always enjoyed watching tennis and my brother (Alexis) and I try to play tennis when we are back home in Montpellier,” said Felix, No. 5 in the World Table Tennis rankings.
“It was great to go to the China Open and see the best tennis players and also meet the different players like Alcaraz and (Daniil) Medvedev. Carlos is so fast and very dynamic on the court. He’s very good to watch and he is a nice guy as well. When we met him we talked a little bit about the Olympics and a little bit about his match, but it was a pleasure to meet him and it was great to watch him play.”
[ATP APP]“My experience at the China Open was fantastic, great players, great people, great arena, fantastic tennis matches, super high quality and activities for the fans to come and watch,” Moregardh said. “There are so many different foods to eat and I really enjoyed my stay at the China Open.”
Co-tournament director Lars Graff also expressed his pride in having the medalists at the tournament.
“They really enjoyed coming to the China Open and I enjoyed going to WTT to see how they conduct a world-class table tennis tournament,” he said.
Second seed Alcaraz will play Tallon Griekspoor in his bid for a quarter-final spot. He leads the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series 3-0.
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