ATP Challenger Trieste: Maximilian Marterer in the quarter-finals
"Giornata dei tedeschi" was the heading on Thursday on the Campo Centrale near the Città di Trieste. Three German players were in action in the second round of the 88,520 euro ATP Challenger event. With Maximilian Marterer , one of them made it into the round of the last eight. The 25-year-old from Nuremberg defeated the Argentinian Andrea Collarini after two tight tie-breaks and over two hours of playing time with 7-6 (9), 7-6 (6).
by Florian Heer from Trieste
last edit:
Aug 28, 2020, 07:37 am
Marterer makes his comeback on the international tennis circuit at the tournament in Trieste. The protégé from the Oberhaching TennisBase was already able to impress at the start in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. With a smooth 6-1, 6-2 he swept the French Hugo Gaston off the field.
Successful restart
"I am very satisfied with how I got into the tournament", Marterer said in a matter-of-fact tone. Participation in the DTB-German-Pro-Series during the Corona compulsory break also helped him to keep his rhythm. The fact that the national tournament series managed without experiments à la Mouratoglou may now turn out to be an advantage.
"It was the same game system as on the international level," explains Marterer. “So you found yourself in exactly the same situation as is the case here again. Maybe the national tournament series weren't quite as tense, but in principle it helped us a lot. "
Three weeks on the Challenger tour
Marterer, the former number 45 in the world, who only ranks 377 after surviving an injury break, has reached the main field of the clay court event on the Gulf of Trieste via its protected ranking.
“I only have a limited number of these options, so I have to be very careful in preparing my tournament selection. The decision was made to start again here and play another two weeks on the Challenger Tour in Cordenons and Aix-en-Provence or Prostejov, ”Marterer describes his further planning.
Acting responsibly off the pitch
In general, the left-hander is looking forward to traveling again, but is well aware of the associated risks and tries to deal with it responsibly in times of the pandemic.
“We came by car and are doing a little our own thing. We try to stick to all the rules, although I sometimes think that the people here are a bit careless, ”says Marterer and also mentions opportunities for improvement. “It would be an advantage if the audience wore a mask to protect us players and others. There are still acceptable temperatures here. I don't feel insecure, but try to approach everything from an appropriate distance. "
Excursions to the extremely attractive port city on the upper Adriatic are therefore not the order of the day. “This is my first time here and I haven't seen much because the site is a bit out of the way. For me, a lot will only happen between the hotel and the tennis court. I think that's the most sensible thing for us, ”says Marterer as a slogan.
In the quarterfinals it is now against Italian qualifier Riccardo Bonadio.
Hanfmann and Kamke lose
Yannick Hanfmann, last week's champion in Todi, Umbria, was eliminated in the second round. Number three seeded from Karlsruhe had to admit defeat to Mario Vilella Martinez from Spain in three sets with 6-4, 3-6, 2-6. Tobias Kamke is out too. The lucky loser lost to Liam Broady from Great Britain 7-6 (7), 6-2.