ATP Halle: Medvedev and Tsitsipas on Monday, Zverev against Thiem on Tuesday
At the ATP World Tour 500 grass tournament in Halle/Westphalia, the top favorites Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas will be involved on Monday. The German-Austrian duel between Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem increases on Tuesday.
by Stefan Bergmann
last edit: Jun 18, 2023, 07:24 pm
Although on Sunday morning the tableau of the ATP World Tour 500 event in Halle/Westphalia was once again shaken up by the injury-related cancellation of Felix Auger-Aliassime, those responsible for the tournament didn't let themselves be ragged and on Sunday afternoon the schedules for the first two were the same Main competition days published - but now only the sequence for Monday is officially visible.
As reported, due to the short-term withdrawal of the eleventh Canadian in the world rankings, Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem meet for a hearty German-Austrian treat in round one, with Hamburg clearly having the edge in the forecast due to the performances shown recently. The match-up between the world rankings numbers 23 and 89 is only available for the spectators in the OWL Arena on the Tuesday menu - if the short sneak peek was right, then as the third game after 12:00 p.m.
Daniil Medvedev as the highlight on day one
In any case, the games on Monday are more than just impressive: First, the German wildcard player Oscar Otte grabs the bat and challenges the Serb Laslo Djere to a punctual high-noon duel. After that, Denis Shapovalov would like to win against the South African Llyod Harris, who has a protected ranking. The former world number 31. from Cape Town is only 296th in the ATP ranking after a long injury break.
Then the first big star player of this year's 30th edition: Stefanos Tsitsipas slipped into the tournament grid as number two with a wildcard and has to deal with the Frenchman Gregoire Barrere. And to top it all off, tournament favorite Daniil Medvedev is having a hot pitch battle with the American Marcos Giron, who successfully fought his way through the qualification. Medev reached the final in Halle/Westaflen in 2022, but was clearly defeated by the Pole Hubert Hurkacz in two sets 1: 6, 4: 6.