ATP Munich: Alexander Zverev takes the dry early shift
The ATP Tour 250 tournament in Munich has slowly picked up speed. The external circumstances were also in focus on Monday.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Apr 29, 2019, 09:07 pm
By Jens Huiber from Munich
Ugo Humbert is a man that tournament director Patrik Kühnen has been looking forward to for a long time. The traditional event at the MTTC Iphitos has finally set itself the goal of bringing interesting youngsters to Munich in addition to the best German players. Umbert definitely falls into this category as a 20-year-old, the Frenchman has already worked his way up to position 64 in the ATP world rankings. However, the premiere at the ATP Tour 250 tournament on Monday was rather short, Humbert lost to the Japanese Taro Daniel in the opening match.
In inhospitable conditions. Organizer Michael Mronz has been emphasizing for years that the BMW Open is the toughest clay court tournament in the world. The first day of the tournament seemed to confirm this thesis, for example Marton Fucsovics unpacked his ski underwear for his game against Lorenzo Sonego in the early afternoon. Which he also urgently needed - the match was only decided in the tie break of the third set. After a playing time of 3:04 hours. And temperatures are clearly below ten degrees Celsius.
Players like Andrey Rublev are waiting for their chance
Alexander Zverev had already accomplished his sporting day's work. The defending champion used the early dry phase to warm up on the show training court for his first appearance in Munich 2019. Zverev will intervene in the game on Wednesday at the earliest, meeting either Maximilian Marterer or Juan Ignacio Londero. The German number one is still waiting for the return of father Alexander sr., Most recently the successful father-son combination was at the start together in Marrakech. Good thing buddy Marcelo Melo is also in Munich. The Brazilian was happy to give his input for the training session, but Zverev, of course, has long known what is really good for him. Melo, on the other hand, is exclusive to Sascha Zverev in Munich, the Brazilian did not mention the double competition.
Four single games were only on the program on Monday, referee Norbert Peick had to juggle with the available players. Benoit Paire, for example, only arrived on the first day of the tournament, Maximilian Marterer was not yet ready for his individual.
The fact that the event is still young can also be seen from the fact that players like Andrey Rublev are still hanging around on the course. The Russian had failed in the second qualifying round at Thiago Monteiro, could maybe move up as Lucky Loser. Rublev is also a player that Patrik Kühnen would have sold not so long ago as an interesting youngster.