Americans on the hunt for another big medal

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April and Lauren got their World Tour Finals adventure under way with a victory

After nearly going all the way to gold in Vienna two weeks ago, wildcards Lauren Fendrick and April Ross are hoping for another wonderful weekend at the Hamburg Finals.

The American duo opened their account with a straight sets victory over Switzerland’s Tanja Hüberli and Nina Betschart and the pair are now eyeing a quickfire double with another following their silver on the Danube Island.

“It’s a great opportunity to play against all the best teams in the world so you can never count it out,” said last year’s Olympic bronze medalist Ross. “If you can bring your A-Game you can beat all of these teams – we’re definitely in it to win it.”

The pair, who teamed up again this summer are no strangers to the Swatch World Tour Finals, having finished fifth together in 2015 in Fort Lauderdale.

And after arriving on Tuesday, Lauren was happy to get off to a winning start.

“With so many good teams playing it’s good to get a win,” she said. “It’s never easy but they are normally a good serving team but they missed a lot which helped.

“We flew in two days ago so we’re still getting used to it – it’s a little colder than I expected here but we can’t wait to get inside the main stadium. If the crowd is anything like it was in Vienna it’s going to be great.”

The Americans go in search of a second successive win to top the pool against Brazilians Agatha/Duda 5pm CET today on the Red Bull Beach Arena – a game you can watch live on BeachStream.

“We know Agatha and Duda are a very good team and they can play very well. We always expect a battle,” added April.