ATP: Karatsev, Struff and Kohlschreiber also serve in Munich
In addition to Alexander Zverev and Jannik Sinner , Aslan Karatsev , Jan-Lennard Struff and record winner Philipp Kohlschreiber are other highly interesting players at the ATP Tour 250 tournament in Munich.
by PM
last edit: Apr 02, 2021, 02:00 pm
The players of the hour are coming to Munich, the BMW Open can look forward to a top-class field of players at the traditional ATP clay court tournament from April 24th to May 2nd. The already announced players Alexander Zverev (number 7 in the world) and the Italian shooting star Jannik Sinner (number 31) will face highly motivated international competition.
“This year's field of players is dominated by many players who are currently in top form. It is one of the strongest and at the same time most balanced fields of players that we have had at the BMW Open so far, ”announced tournament director Patrik Kühnen . With Alexander Zverev (5th place), Aslan Karatsev (6th place) and Marton Fucsovics (7th place), three players from the top 10 of the annual ATP Race to Turin ranking, which is decisive for the ATP final at the end of the year, will be there in Munich . With their current placements, for which only the current performance in the calendar year is counted, the three players would be directly qualified for the grand final in Turin. "Those who are way ahead in the ATP Race are currently the measure of all things," summarizes Kühnen.
Newcomer of the year, Aslan Karatsev serves in Munich
Above all, this applies to a player who is currently in the shape of his life: Aslan Karatsev . A year ago - mid-March 2020 - the Russian was still ranked 253 in the world rankings. He is now number 27. After the corona-related interruption of the ATP Tour, during which he literally hung up the tennis racket for a few months, it suddenly went for the 27-year-old. Of 20 games in three Challenger tournaments, he was able to win 19, including two tournament victories in Prague and Ostrava.
With this tailwind, he qualified for a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career when he qualified for the Australian Open in Doha. In between, he won the ATP Cup with the Russian team as a “secret weapon”, as Andrey Rublev called him, before causing a sensation at the Australian Open. Only in the semifinals was there against the eventual winner Novak Djokovic over for Karatsev, who is thus the first player to reach the semifinals in his Grand Slam debut.
But the Karatsev fairy tale is not over yet. The Russian was allowed to start with a wildcard at the 500 tournament in Dubai and won the title there. “You never know when success will come. But I always believed in myself and worked hard for it, ”is how the 27-year-old describes his success story, which he would like to continue in Munich.
BMW Open are looking forward to German top players Struff and Koepfer
The best Germans will also be back at the start in 2021. In addition to Alexander Zverev, Jan-Lennard Struff and Dominik Koepfer will also serve in Munich. Struff, currently number 42 in the world, has been in the top 50 for several years and is a constant in the German Davis Cup team. In 2014 he drew attention to himself in Munich when he was surprisingly qualified as a qualifier in the semi-finals. It is Koepfer's first appearance at the BMW Open. The 26-year-old from Furtwangen has been working his way up the world rankings step by step over the past few years. At the beginning of March he reached the semifinals in Acapulco, in which he was defeated by Alexander Zverev. His good performance pushed him up to 54th place in the world - his best place in the international ranking so far.
Philipp Kohlschreiber at the start for the 16th time in Munich
And one player cannot be missing at the BMW Open this year either. The three-time winner, Philipp Kohlschreiber , will again be playing at the traditional MTTC Iphitos tournament in 2021. Kohlschreiber won the clay court tournament in 2007 (against Mikhail Youzhny), 2012 (against Marin Cilic) and 2016 (against Dominic Thiem) and was also in the final three more times, most recently against Alexander Zverev in 2018. “Philipp just belongs to the BMW Open. Due to his strong performance and his loyalty to the tournament, we didn't hesitate and will give him a wild card this year if he needs it, ”said Kühnen. Kohlschreiber has competed at the BMW Open for the 15th time since 2002. “Sure, it's one of my favorite tournaments,” the 37-year-old from Augsburg likes to emphasize.