ATP Challenger Heilbronn: Daniel Altmaier hopes for a perfect "farewell" from the substructure
Daniel Altmaier has reached the final at the 8th Heilbronn NECKARCUP. The match in the semi-finals on Friday between the top seeded German and last year's finalist Daniel Elahi Galan from Colombia lasted more than two hours.
by By Florian Heer from Heilbronn
last edit: May 14, 2022, 11:13 am
Under a white and blue sky and in front of almost 800 spectators at the Tennis Club Trappensee, it was an open exchange of blows between the two opponents. As in the two previous direct duels - Altmaier won once, Galan once - this encounter also went over three sets. The sticking point of the close match was the game to 5:4. First Altmaier missed three game balls on his own serve before he regained the advantage with an ace, brought the game home and Galan took his subsequent serve to win the match 6:3, 2:6, 6:4.
Farewell to the Challenger Tour
“It was definitely not the strongest game from my side. But if you want to win tournaments, you have to be able to win weaker matches. The atmosphere today on Center Court was great and the support from the audience carried me through the match," said Altmaier, who is about to compete in his last tournament at Challenge level.
"I've earned that over the past year and will make a jump in the world rankings between 60th and 50th place. Nobody gave me that. There's a lot of work behind it and now comes the next step," says the 23-year-old from Kempen.
Family and coach on site
One man who is partly responsible for the success is his Argentine coach Facundo Yunis, with whom Altmaier has been working for a good three years. “We have a very good connection. We spend a lot of time together and work hard. The chemistry is right between us. That's important and I'm very happy with his development. Everything is going according to plan,” said Yunis.
“He is now ready for the big tournaments. The next step is to firmly establish yourself in the top 50. To do this, we need consistently good results over the next few months. Maybe at the beginning of the coming season, things will continue.”
First, however, a successful "farewell" to the foundation in international tennis should take place. Altmaier can win his fourth title on the ATP Challenger Tour in Käthchenstadt, his second this year, and after Braunschweig and Lüdenscheid his third in front of his home crowd. The number 66 in the ATP world rankings is also accompanied by his mother Galina these days.
"We traveled together and came here by car," says Altmaier. "It's the first time since Kitzbühel that we're together again at a tournament. That's a long time. So I want to take advantage of spending more time with my family.”
Challenger Andrei Martin
Altmaier's opponent in the final is Slovakian Andrej Martin. His semi-final against qualifier Jonas Forejtek ended earlier than expected. Forejtek seemed to be on the road to victory for a long time. He clearly won the first set 6:2. The second round also seemed to be a clear thing, as the young Czech star was already leading 4:1. But then the 21-year-old lost the thread and Martin caught up game after game. Forejtek carelessly missed numerous chances, but saved himself in the tie-break, which number 144 in the ATP ranking won. When the score was 1-0 for Forejtek in the third set, it was over. The hip of the world number 259 pinched so badly that he had to give up.
“Of course I'm happy to be in the final. But I would have preferred to get the win regularly rather than through an injury to my opponent," Martin said.
Positive record for Martin
The 32-year-old from Bratislava could celebrate his 13th title win on the ATP Challenger Tour in Heilbronn, his first triumph in singles since 2019. Martin was able to win both previous encounters with Altmaier. Three years ago in Italy and last season in Chile.
"At the match in Concepcion, I had only just returned to the tour from my corona infection," Altmaier looks back. “In Como I had to give up with a double break in the second set despite being in the lead because I tore my ligaments. These are matches that have nothing to do with the upcoming final. Since then I have developed as a player and Andrej has also gone his own way. We both have already won four matches this week and will accordingly go into the final with confidence.”
And will Altmaier's mom be there again? "Never change a winning team," was the prompt reply.