The first Swedish duel for this year’s edition of the Nordea Open was kicked off by Caijsa Hennemann/Kajsa Rinaldo Persson against Jacqueline Cabaj Awad/Lisa Zaar on Court 1. In a cloudy Båstad, Cabaj Awad and Zaar started off strong with a convincing 6-0 in the first set. A set where Zaar dominated of the net.
After the first set, that lasted for 17 minutes, Hennemann and Rinaldo Persson changed tactics in order for them to turn the Swedish duel around. Hennemann and Rinaldo Persson showed a much tougher and more solid game in the second set and won it 6-3 after being down 2-3.
Hennemann and Rinaldo Persson started with a strong 5-2 lead in the match tie-break but the nerve-wracking tie-break went to 8-8 where the longest and most important point of the match was played – Cabaj Awad and Zaar managed to win the rally after some great tennis. Thanks to many good volleys, Cabaj Awad and Zaar won 10-8 and will be the only Swedish pair to advance to the second round of the Nordea Open 2023.