Things took a turn for the worse on Thursday evening when the Swede’s tennis elbow hurt so much after three matches in one day that he was unsure whether he could play in Friday morning’s doubles semi-final.
But a good night’s sleep and some painkillers did Karlsson good, and the Moldovan pair of Vladislav Ursu and Andrei Putuntica were dispatched in less than half an hour.
“During the warm-up today, it felt like before, completely fine. It’s clear that it hurts in some situations, but it’s definitely manageable. It hurts, but not nearly as much as it did yesterday,” Karlsson tells SVT.
Karlsson and Källberg won in straight sets - 11–5, 11–9, 15–13 - and can now look forward to Saturday evening’s final, where they will face the top-seeded French star brothers Alexis and Felix Lebrun.
“We’re really looking forward to that,” says Anton Källberg.
Both Karlsson and Källberg will play in the men’s singles round of 16 later on Friday. Elias Ranefur and Truls Möregårdh are also still in the tournament.
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