German tennis pro Daniel Altmaier was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the ATP Masters in Madrid. The 24-year-old from Kempen lost 17-seeded Croatian Borna Coric 3-6, 3-6 after just 75 minutes on Wednesday and thus missed his first participation in a Masters semi-final.
Reaching the round of eight was nonetheless a huge achievement for the world No. 92.
Altmaier, who had reached the round of 16 at the French Open in 2020, had previously not progressed beyond second-round participation in tournaments in the highest ATP category. In the Spanish capital, he only made it into the main draw as a “lucky loser” for a short time. Altmaier now had no chance against the convincing Coric.
After the Kempener left, Jan-Lennard Struff is the last German in the tournament. The 33-year-old from Warstein will play against Stefanos Tsitsipas (Greece/No. 4) in the quarter-finals on Thursday.
Altmaier’s conqueror Coric meets defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals a day later. The Spaniard made it into the last four again with a 6:4, 7:5 against Karen Khachanov (No. 10). The day before, the world number two Olympic champion Alexander Zverev had defeated in two sets.
“The win will give me a lot of self-confidence, Karen was at a high level and pushed me to the limit,” said Alcaraz: “It was decided by small details and I’m very, very happy that I got through this lap.”