Borg and Dahlin fall in Stockholm as last Swedes exit on day two

The home crowd at the Stockholm Open has run out of Swedish singles players before the first round was even finished. On Monday, wildcards Leo Borg and Max Dahlin both lost their opening matches, a day after Elias Ymer went out. That leaves the ATP 250 event without a local player in the singles draw for the rest of the week.

The two defeats went very differently. Borg, the son of five-time Wimbledon champion Björn Borg, was beaten quickly by a British qualifier. Dahlin, ranked outside the world's top 700, came close to one of the biggest upsets of the tournament against the fifth seed.

Samuel too strong for Borg

Borg's evening started well: he broke Toby Samuel in the opening game. Samuel broke straight back, took control of the baseline rallies and broke again for 5-3 before serving out the first set. In the second set he broke twice more, at 3-2 and 5-2, and took his second match point to win 6-3, 6-2 in 1 hour and 10 minutes.

According to match statistics cited by Tennis Majors, Borg made six double faults and faced eleven break points, saving seven. Samuel is ranked No. 95 and came through qualifying. He now faces third seed Lorenzo Musetti in the last 16. Before the draw, Swedish media had been hoping Borg would get that second-round meeting with the Italian himself.

Dahlin takes Etcheverry the distance

Earlier in the day, 20-year-old Dahlin gave the crowd its best moment of the tournament so far. The wildcard, ranked 778th, played Tomás Martín Etcheverry, the world No. 29 and fifth seed, and lost the first set 6-4. He then forced a second-set tiebreak and fell behind 5-6, facing match point.

Dahlin saved it and won the next three points to level the match. The Argentine settled again in the decider, broke for 5-3 and served out a 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3 win. Swedish outlets praised the youngster afterwards. Dahlin is still far from the main tour, but this performance was one of his best yet.

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Third Swedish wildcard to fall

The pair followed Ymer out of the event. On Sunday Ymer lost the first match of the Swedish campaign 6-1, 7-6(4) to Juan Manuel Cerúndolo. Sweden's three wildcards have now all gone out in the first round, so the home interest in Stockholm is limited to the doubles.

The result also sums up where Swedish men's tennis stands. None of the three came into the week ranked anywhere near direct entry, and all needed wildcards just to make the draw. Borg is still looking for a breakthrough at tour level. For Dahlin, three competitive sets against a top-30 player is a useful benchmark as his season winds down.

For the rest of the tournament, the focus moves to the seeds. Etcheverry plays in the second round, and Samuel's next test is Musetti, the Italian third seed, in what is the qualifier's biggest match of the week so far.