ATP Challenger Ismaning: Top favorites Stricker and Marterer win at the start
On Tuesday, further first-round matches of the main draw in singles and doubles were held at the ATP Challenger tournament in category 75 in Ismaning. In addition to the two top-seeded players Dominic Stricker and Maximilian Marterer, local hero Max Rehberg also made it to the round of 16.
by PM
last edit: Nov 01, 2023, 08:20 am
Top favorite Stricker bites through
Top seed Dominic Stricker (ATP No. 90) needed some time to get going. After his successful run to the quarter-finals of the ATP 500 tournament last week in Basel, where he defeated, among others, the Norwegian top 10 player Casper Ruud, the young Swiss was in his opening game at the “International German Indoor Tennis Championship” against the Portuguese Qualifier Joao Sousa was 4:5 behind with a break before he was able to secure the first set in the tiebreak. In the second round, the 21-year-old got the early break in the third game, but had to concede four games in a row to his 34-year-old opponent and subsequently had to accept the set equalizer. In the deciding set, Stricker started with a quick 3-0 lead and brought it home 7:6 (4), 3:6, 6:3 after just under two hours.
“ A first round is never easy, but I am super happy that I managed to win. I had good and bad phases in the match, but that happens on carpet. With the confidence from Basel behind me, I felt very good in the important moments like the tiebreak ,” said the Swiss Davis Cup player after the game.
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Marterer masters the opening hurdle confidently
Maximilian Marterer (ATP No. 105) celebrated a perfect start. Against the Belgian Michael Geerts, against whom the Franconian won clearly this year in his Challenger triumph in Amersfoort, the Netherlands, the 28-year-old started with a quick 3-0 lead. With a total of 15 aces, the German Davis Cup player underlined his strong service performance and consistently used his two break chances without allowing his opponent a single one in the entire match. After exactly one hour, the No. 2 seed in the tournament won 6:3, 6:4.
After the match he commented with satisfaction: “ I served well and with concentration and used my chances perfectly, which is what is important on carpet. Because of my win against him a few months ago, I wanted to appear confident and I did that well. With the early break behind me, I was able to play more freely.” In the round of 16, the left-hander will face Polish qualifier Kacper Zuk, who won 7:6 (12), 6:4 against Adrian Andreev from Bulgaria.
Local hero Rehberg wrestles Cressy down
In the “Match of the Day” between last year’s finalist Max Rehberg (ATP No. 631) and the American Maxime Cressy, who reached the final in Ismaning in 2019, the spectators experienced a true thriller. In the first set, both players were able to hold their serves, which is why the decision was made in a tiebreak. With a wonderful praise, the 20-year-old local hero took the mini-break and extended his lead to 5:2. With five point wins in a row, the Californian turned the decisive game around and secured the first round. In the second round, too, the two protagonists showed no weakness in their own service until Rehberg was able to get the decisive break in the tenth game to equalize the set. In the deciding round, the Landshamer started with a quick 3-0 lead, but had to accept the equalizer straight away. Once again the decision was made in the tiebreak, in which the BTV young professional took a quick 4:1 lead this time to the much celebrated 6:7 (5), 6:4, 7:6 (4) success after 2:33 hours.
“ I'm just happy that I won. Before the tournament, I took some of the pressure off myself by not raising my expectations too high after reaching the final last year. Of course I would like to get as far as possible here, but I try to go about it as relaxed as possible ,” said the TennisBase Oberhaching professional.
Mixed record of qualifiers
Mats Rosenkranz (ATP No. 430) from Essen improved his entry into the main draw from qualifying. After winning the first round, the 25-year-old delivered a nerve-wracking tiebreak in which he secured a 6:3, 7:6 (13) victory after 85 minutes to advance to the second round, where he will face local hero Max Rehberg.
The 25-year-old Louis Wessels from Bielefeld (ATP No. 342), however, had to admit defeat to the qualifier Andrew Paulsen, who competes for the TC Augsburg Siebentisch in the Bundesliga. After 2:18 hours, the 21-year-old Czech won 6:4, 6:7 (6), 6:3.