Tennis professional Daniel Altmaier won his opening match at the dress rehearsal for the French Open, making a German duel perfect.
At the clay court Masters in Rome on Wednesday, the 27-year-old from Kempen on the Lower Rhine defeated the Chinese Zhang Zhizhen 4:6, 7:6 (7:3), 6:4. Thanks to the comeback, second-seeded Alexander Zverev, who has already won the tournament twice, is now waiting in the next round.
Even before Altmaier could even think about the fifth career duel against Zverev, an energetic performance was needed against Zhang (29). The third best German tennis player was on the verge of being eliminated in the second set when the score was 3:5. However, Altmaier fended off the match point from world number 239 and showed better nerves in the subsequent tiebreak.
Match point fended off
The momentum ultimately remained with Altmaier, who converted his first match point after around two and a half hours and thus rehabilitated himself in two ways. A year ago, Altmaier was quietly eliminated at the start. There was also a first-round exit at the last Masters in Madrid.
Second-round opponent Zverev, who won the title in Rome in 2017 and 2024, has won three times so far against Altmaier, who is around two years younger. Altmaier only triumphed in Acapulco in 2024.
Sinner is threatening again somewhere
Other Germans represented in Italy are Yannick Hanfmann and Jan-Lennard Struff. The clear favorite in the tournament, which is endowed with 8,235,540 euros, is the local hero Jannik Sinner, who came in first place. Sinner recently gave his biggest challenger Zverev a lesson in the final of the Masters in Madrid.
Our sources:
- dpa
- sports information service
Broadcast: wdr.de, “Altmaier reaches 2nd round in Rome – now against Zverev”, May 6, 20265:03 p.m
