Tennis professional Yannick Hanfmann started the new year successfully. In Brisbane he caused a surprise.
The Karlsruhe native won the ATP tournament in Brisbane 7:5, 6:4 against fifth-seeded American Sebastian Korda and reached the round of 16. There the 32-year-old will meet either the Australian James Duckworth or Jeffrey John Wolf from the USA.
Compatriot Daniel Altmaier is also in the next round. The Kempen native defeated local hero Li Tu 7:6 (7:5), 7:6 (7:4). In the round of 16, the 25-year-old will play against Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, number two on the seeding list.
Nadal is celebrating a comeback
At the tournament in Brisbane (until January 7th), Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal is also celebrating his comeback after almost a year out due to injury. In his opening match, the 37-year-old will face the Austrian Dominic Thiem. The former world number three was drawn to Nadal as a qualifier.
Nadal recently had the Australian Open played in January 2023 and then underwent hip flexor surgery. He is currently only ranked 672nd in the world, but thanks to his “Protected Ranking“-Status does not compete in the qualification.