Wimbledon: Oscar Otte expects "good chances" against Alcaraz even without Glücksstein
Two newcomers of the season in a Wimbledon duel: On Friday Oscar Otte will play against the new tennis sensation Carlos Alcaraz. On grass, he calculates his chances against the teenager.
by SID
last edit: Jul 01, 2022, 08:23 am
Oscar Otte hasn't gotten anywhere on the search for his lucky stone. The tennis bag with the talisman remains missing. Which is annoying, because "actually I'm pretty superstitious," says the Cologne tennis pro, who is also facing a very special duel in which a bit of luck can't hurt.
On Friday, Otte will challenge the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz in Wimbledon, the shooting star of the tennis scene, who is making the tour more exciting than a teenager has been for a long time. Otte is also a climber, at the age of 28, but he and his "uncomfortable game" are also topics of conversation in the dressing room after two semi-finals on grass.
Otte is also building on that against Alcaraz, he doesn't need a stone in his pocket for that. "Things have worked out quite well without him so far," he says. The smooth victory over his buddy Peter Gojowczyk was followed by the short working day after the American Christian Harrison retired. So the double on Thursday came in handy to stay in the loft.
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Otte on Alcaraz: "Suppress that he comes into his comfort zone"
As spectacular and successful as Alcaraz has played this year, Otte counts on "good chances" on grass. "Here I can suppress the most that he comes to his game, in his comfort zone," he explains: "I have to keep the rallies short, mix a lot." Just like Otte's other buddy Jan-Lennard Struff, who brought Alcaraz to the brink of defeat in the first round.
"With Struffi you saw how it works. He went for it and kept the rallies short," says Otte. Alcaraz doesn't like that, he doesn't know that. Not yet. The seventh in the world rankings, who has already won four tournaments this year, including the Masters in Miami and Madrid, has only played four matches on grass in his career. Two at Wimbledon in 2021, two this year.
But Alcaraz learns quickly, in the second match against Otte's doubles partner Tallon Griekspoor from the Netherlands he got along better with the fast game. "But I need more hours on grass to feel even more comfortable," he says. And: Otte is of a different caliber, Alcaraz knows that, not least because the German is now allowed to go in and out in the luxury cabin of the seeded players.
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