ATP Stuttgart: Top talent Dominic Stricker celebrates ATP turf premiere at the MercedesCup
The draw for the ATP 250 event in Stuttgart has taken place. While Dustin Brown has to deal with Nikoloz Basilashvili at the beginning, Marin Cilic meets Rudi Molleker . Young talent Dominic Stricker also starts at the MercedesCup.
by Press release
last edit: Jun 08, 2021, 11:24 am
In the press center of the MercedesCup at the Stuttgart Weissenhof, the main field for the 618,735 euro ATP lawn tournament was drawn on Monday. In addition to tournament director Edwin Weindorfer and ATP supervisor Stephane Cretois, Dustin Brown was also present at the “Draw Ceremony”. He will start thanks to a wildcard and, as a “lucky fairy”, draw the pairings for the first round.
Two years ago, in the last edition of the MercedesCup, Brown reached the quarter-finals with a surprising victory over Alexander Zverev. Speaking of Zverev: The current world number sixth had to withdraw his report for Stuttgart after his successful run at the French Open in Paris.
Brown versus Basilashvili
Brown signed the strong Georgian Nikoloz Basilashvili (ATP 31st) for the opening round, who has already won the ATP tournaments in Doha and Munich this season. “We know each other very well and have already trained together. It's not an easy lot, but it doesn't happen here anyway, ”said Brown. The 20-year-old Berlin-based Rudi Molleker, who was also given a wildcard for the main field, will face the Croatian US Open 2014 winner Marin Cilic (ATP rank 47) in the opening round.
Yannick Hanfmann, the third German with a main field wildcard, challenges Jeremy Chardy in his first round match. The Frenchman, who is currently in 60th position in the world rankings, has already won the MercedesCup in 2009 - but at that time still on clay. Dominik Koepfer, who last Saturday gave Roger Federer a great fight in the third round of the French Open in Paris, which the 27-year-old German lost in four tight sets, will meet the Austrian Jurij Rodionov.
Shapovalov bye
In an interesting generation duel, the experienced Spaniard Feliciano Lopez gets to do with the aspiring Australian Alexei Popyrin in his “First Round”. The top seeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who has a bye in the first round, is waiting for the winner of this duel. One can also look forward to the ATP lawn premiere of the Swiss top talent Dominic Stricker.
Since the 18-year-old Bernese won the junior title in singles and doubles at the French Open in Paris last October, he has been hoping the Swiss tennis scene will follow in the footsteps of Roger Federer or Stan Wawrinka. “Maestro” Federer himself was also one of the first to congratulate after Stricker's triumphal procession in Roland Garros. “In my opinion, there will never be someone like Federer again. And I don't feel any pressure either. For me, that's more motivating, ”said the humble youngster.
Weindorfer sees a promising player in Stricker
Stricker celebrated his first title win at the second highest tournament level in March of this year in Lugano (SUI) in his only second appearance at an ATP Challenger. The current number 335 in the world recently competed at the ATP 250 event in Geneva - equipped with a wildcard - where he sensationally reached the quarter-finals with victories over Marin Cilic and the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics.
“Dominic Stricker is one of the most talented young players in the world. We are very happy to be able to support him on his way to the top with a wildcard for the main field of the MercedesCup. We are really looking forward to his turf debut at an ATP tournament, ”said tournament director Edwin Weindorfer.