Newcomer Justin Engel advances to the second round in his grass court debut. The 17-year-old secures a narrow victory in the tiebreak.
Tennis newcomer Justin Engel has advanced to the second round of the ATP tournament in Stuttgart on his grass court debut. The 17-year-old, who was given a wild card by the organizers, won a hard-fought match against Australia’s James Duckworth 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).
The top talent fought back against Duckworth after losing the first set and forced a third set. After Engel failed to convert two match points, the match was decided in a tiebreak, which he won after 2 hours and 30 minutes.
Engel caused a stir in Hamburg for the first time when he defeated German veteran Jan-Lennard Struff (Warstein). He will also be playing alongside him in the doubles in Stuttgart.
Hanfmann eliminated in Stuttgart
Yannick Hanfmann was the first German tennis pro to be eliminated in Stuttgart. The 33-year-old from Karlsruhe botched his grass court debut despite a good start and lost to Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 5-7, 4-6.
On Monday, Struff advanced to the round of 16 with a two-set victory over Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi. The top seed at the TC Weissenhof is world number three Alexander Zverev (Hamburg), who, after receiving a bye, will start his preparations for Wimbledon (starting June 30) on Thursday against Italian veteran Fabio Fognini or Corentin Moutet (France).
