Stefan Kozlov, 15, nearly defeats Poland’s Michal Przysiezny in a 6-3, 6-7 (9), 6-4 loss at Newport. Kozlov, who reached the Wimbledon boys’ quarterfinals, received a wild card into the event.
“In five or six years, I think he will be very good. I wish him all the best,” Przysiezny told reporters. “Normally you can’t practice with a 15-year-old, and here I almost lost the match…He hit unbelievable a few shots. It was very tough for me to play from the baseline. If I serve good, he returns deep.”
Kozlov, who cramped in the third set of his defeat to Britain’s Kyle Edmund at Wimbledon, slipped and fell on his right hip in Newport and needed a medical timeout in the third set.
“I should have drank more,” said Kozlov, who added that while he was happy how he played “I should have won.”