ATP Stuttgart: Shapovalov, Hurkacz, Kyrgios open at Weissenhof
The three-time Grand Slam tournament winner Andy Murray and "enfant terrible" Nick Kyrgios meet strong competition at the start of the tennis grass season. The German aces Oscar Otte and Daniel Altmaier have secured their starting places in the main draw of the Weissenhof tournament.
by p.m
last edit: May 17, 2022, 04:02 pm
Lawn tennis at the highest level is on offer at the ATP tournament at the Weissenhof in Stuttgart , which is endowed with 769,645 euros ! This is proven by a look at the entry list, which not only has Andy Murray , a three-time Grand Slam champion, and Nick Kyrgios , the "enfant terrible" of the ATP tour, but also Hubert Hurkacz (POL) and Denis Shapovalov (CAN ) also two semi-finalists of last year's “Grass Summit” in Wimbledon.
Hubert Hurkacz played big on the "holy lawn" last year. On the way to his first Grand Slam semi-final in the round of 16, the Pole took out the higher rated Daniil Medvedev from the tournament, only to inflict a painful defeat on eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer in the quarter-finals. In his three-set triumph, Hurkacz, who is currently 13th in the world rankings, did not give the "Maestro" a single game in the third round.
Hurkacz and Shapovalov in the 2021 Wimbledon semifinals
The parallel between Hurkacz and Denis Shapovalov? The Canadian was also in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in Wimbledon last year. "Shapo" forced Karen Khachanov to his knees in an exciting five-set match in the quarter-finals and then delivered an open exchange of blows to eventual tournament winner Novak Djokovic, which the Serb ultimately won in three hard-fought sets.
The season winners Reilly Opelka (USA/Dallas, Houston), Alexander Bublik (KAZ/Montpellier) and Holger Rune (DEN/Munich), US talent Sebastian Korda and Italian promoted player Lorenzo Musetti are also among the highly interesting field of participants in the 105th edition of the Weissenhof -tournament.
Otte and Altmaier in the main draw
From a German point of view, Oscar Otte and Daniel Altmaier have secured their starting places in the main field. Otte fought a dramatic second-round duel with Andy Murray at Wimbledon last year, which the Scot won in five sets. Since then, the 28-year-old from Cologne has climbed steeply in the rankings - after the quarter-finals in Belgrade and the semi-finals in Munich, Otte is in 60th place.
Daniel Altmaier achieved his best world ranking so far on Monday of this week as 54th. The 23-year-old from Kempen was in the spotlight at the French Open in Paris in 2020, where he advanced from qualifying to the round of 16. Last week Altmaier celebrated a tournament victory at the Challenger in Heilbronn.
“With the three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray, the unpredictable Nick Kyrgios, two Wimbledon semi-finalists from last season and a strong German duo, the field of participants in the Weissenhof tournament this year will be led by very attractive players. We can expect an interesting course of the tournament with exciting games and first-class lawn tennis,” explains tournament director Edwin Weindorfer , who also has three wildcards to award. “We will hold back the wildcards until just before the tournament starts. This is also to be able to react to current developments at the Grand Slam tournament in Paris, which is taking place immediately before Stuttgart," adds Weindorfer.