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Rising Swedish star Elias Ymer admits he is well aware that it will be all but easy when he meets Portugal's Joao Sousa in the Bastad round-of-16. Wildcard Ymer survived a tough first round clash against Thiago Montero od Brazil as he claimed a 6-3 2-6 7-5 win.
World No. 116 Ymer showed good mental strength as, after losing the second set, he fell 3-1 down in the decider but kept fighting and eventually staged a comeback. On the other side, No. 8 seed Sousa earned a straight-set win over Jozef Kovalik 7-6 (3) 6-4.
Ymer, 23, will be hoping to clinch his maiden win over Sousa when they meet on Thursday. The 30-year-old Portuguese leads the head-to-head against the Swede 2-0. “It’s like playing a pitbull. He has beaten me three times.
I will give it all and fight for every point," Ymer told TT Nyhetsbyran, as revealed by Alex Theodoridis on Twitter. Sousa claimed two straight-set wins over Ymer as he beat the Swede in the Bastad round-of-16 five years ago before and the Davis Cup last year respectively.