Estonian International 2026: Strong Starts and Valuable Experience in Tallinn

It was an impressive week in Tallinn for the squad at the Estonian International, with several strong performances across the draws and plenty of positives to take from the opening tournament of 2026.

James Robertson produced a standout run in the men’s singles, battling his way through three grueling qualifying rounds to earn a place in the main draw. His reward was a tough first-round clash against Danish 8th seed Mads Christopherson. Despite a determined effort, Robertson was unable to match the Dane’s quality on the day, going down 21–13, 21–14. Christopherson’s level was later underlined as he powered his way to the final, eventually finishing runner-up after a tight three-set defeat to Japan’s Minoru Koga.

Callum Smith also enjoyed a strong showing in qualifying, picking up two solid victories before his run was halted by highly rated teenager Hsin Tse Tu of Chinese Taipei, who claimed a straight-sets win.

Matthew Waring made a confident start to his campaign, defeating Poland’s Mateusz Danielak 21–19, 21–13 in his opening qualifying match. However, he was unable to build on that momentum in the next round, where he came up against experienced Swedish campaigner Muh Azahbru Kasra (world number 285), falling 21–17, 21–7.

Finlay Jack showed plenty of fight in his opening qualifying match but was ultimately beaten in straight sets by another talented Swedish opponent, Tim Mork, with the scores reading 21–16, 21–12.

In the men’s doubles, Josh Taylor and Evan Kenny faced a stern test against England’s top-seeded pair Samuel Jones and Oliver Butler. Despite producing moments of real quality, the duo were unable to overturn the favourites, losing 21–14, 21–8.

Overall, it was a positive opening tournament of 2026 for the group, providing valuable match experience and strong performances to build on. A special mention also goes to Malik Clowes, who travelled to Tallinn following a late promotion.

There is little time to rest, with another quick turnaround ahead as most of the squad now heads to Uppsala, Sweden, for the Victor Swedish Open, which gets underway on Thursday.