ATP Hamburg: Daniil Medvedev loses at the beginning, mixed feelings among the Germans
The top seeded Daniil Medvedev suffered an opening defeat at the ATP 500 tournament in Hamburg. For the German starters there were two wins and two defeats on Tuesday.
by SID / tennisnet
last edit: Sep 22, 2020, 08:59 pm
Medvedev , who had skipped the tournament in Rome because of his semi-finals at the US Open, lost the first set against Ugo Humbert 4: 6 despite a break lead. In the second round the world number five had to give up his serve to 3: 5 in the eighth game, the French knew how to take advantage of this and served to 6: 4 and 6: 3 success.
So Medvedev, who is top seed in Hamburg, travels to the French Open in Paris with just one clay court match behind him. In the second round, however, Humbert meets Jiri Vesely, who had already prevailed against Gilles Simon on Monday.
Otherwise, the events at the Center Court in Hamburg on Tuesday were mainly dominated by German players. The results turned out to be different: while Philipp Kohlschreiber and Jan-Lennard Struff suffered narrow defeats, Yannick Hanfmann celebrated a surprise success. Dominik Koepfer also won the second-largest place in the facility.
Hemp man beats Monfils
Koepfer fought hard for the 7: 6 (0), 4: 6 and 6: 1 victory against the Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka, who he had previously named "Ballwand". Hanfmann surprised with a 6: 4 and 6: 3 victory against the third-placed French Gael Monfils. It was his first triumph over a top ten player.
The veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber and Germany's number two Jan-Lennard Struff also had strong moments, but were eliminated. Kohlschreiber lost to the favored Italian Fabio Fognini (No. 6) 6: 4, 1: 6 and 5: 7. Struff had to bow to Russian Karen Khachanov with 6: 7 (5), 6: 4 and 5: 7. The German number two awarded a double break lead in the third set.
For Koepfer and Hanfmann, however, anything is still possible. "My father was there, national coach Michael Kohlmann, and Boris Becker. I was really happy," said Koepfer. He started the duel on Wednesday with the number four seeded Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, who defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili 6: 4 and 6: 3 in the first round, with great self-confidence, also in the knowledge of his strong performances at the Masters in Rome . "I think it's all open," said the 26-year-old.
Tsitsipas joins on Wednesday
Hanfmann also sees it that way, who is up against Chilean Cristian Garin, who only allowed Kei Nishikori three game wins at the start. The Karlsruhe resident only left Paris at short notice, where he actually wanted to qualify for the French Open. But then he took the chance for a wild card in Hamburg. "I did everything right," said the 28-year-old.
Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alexander Bublik could say the same about themselves after their opening games. The Canadian youngster beat Lorenzo Sonego 6: 2 and 7: 6 (2), the Kazakh Lucky Loser won against Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6: 2 and 7: 6 (5). On Wednesday the second seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas will play his first match in Hamburg - the Greek meets Dan Evans.