Despite a significant increase in performance in the second set, Daniel Altmaier was eliminated in the first round of the grass tournament in Halle, Westphalia.
The 23-year-old tennis pro from Kempen lost against the Australian Nick Kyrgios 3: 6, 5: 7 and thus missed a possible duel with the Greek tournament favorite Stefanos Tsitsipas in the round of 16. Kyrgios, who caused a scandal in the semifinals against Brit Andy Murray last week at the tournament in Stuttgart and then complained of racist insults against himself, converted his second match point after 67 minutes.
“I was a bit nervous at first. With him you never know what to expect,” said Altmaier after his defeat. “In the second set I got in much better, but didn’t take my chances,” said the man from Kempen, who will continue to prepare for the classic in Wimbledon (June 27th to July 10th) at the tournament in Mallorca next week want.
So far, no German has made it into the round of 16 at the event, which is endowed with 2.275 million euros. On Monday, local hero Jan-Lennard Struff and German champion Henri Squire were eliminated in the first round. Olympic champion Alexander Zverev had to cancel his participation because of the serious foot injury he suffered at the French Open.
Oscar Otte from Cologne still has a chance of progressing on Tuesday evening. The German number two meets the Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic in his opening match.