Jorgić's Ljubljana campaign ends in round of 16

Darko Jorgić, Slovenia's top table tennis player, failed to replicate his previous year's success at the WTT Star Contender tournament in Ljubljana, exiting in the round of 16. He lost to the 12th seed, France's Simon Gauzy, with a score of 3-1 ( -11, 5, 3, 8).

Jorgić struggled to find his form throughout the tournament. After receiving a bye in the first round, he had a difficult second-round match. While he managed to advance, he could not overcome his consistently challenging opponent, Gauzy, in their latest encounter. Although Jorgić won the first set, Gauzy dominated the subsequent games, playing exceptionally well and preventing Jorgić from mounting a comeback in the fourth set.

"Simon returns a lot of balls to the table, I simply couldn't break through him. I made too many quick errors. After winning the first set, everything went too quickly in his favor, I was losing long rallies, Gauzy deservedly won," said the disappointed Hrastnik native. He admitted he wasn't at his best during the tournament, a fact evident from his previous match.

"I made too many mistakes, although I wasn't thinking about what was coming next, I was just focused on my next opponent. Unfortunately, I haven't managed to beat Simon for the third time in a row, but I have to accept that and prepare for the next tournament in the USA. The tournament there will be even stronger, it will be a Smash series tournament, and I will try to improve the impression from Ljubljana," Jorgić stated. Had he defeated Gauzy, Jorgić would have faced Japan's Hiroto Shinozuka in the quarterfinals, who had surprisingly eliminated the top seed, France's Felix Lebrun, in the round of 16. The other Slovenian players were eliminated in the qualifying rounds in both singles and doubles, and those who advanced to the main draw through the host country's wildcard also fell in the first round.

“

Preveč napak sem delal, čeprav nisem mislil, kaj me čaka naprej, zbral sem bil le na svojega naslednjega tekmeca. Žal mi še tretjič zapovrstjo ni uspelo premagati Simona, a to moral sprejeti in se pripraviti na naslednji turnir v ZDA. Tam bo turnir še močnejši, turnir bo serije Smash, poskušal pa bom popraviti vtis iz Ljubljane.