Daniel Altmaier missed his first participation in a Masters semi-final. He lost to Borna Coric in two sets at the ATP Masters in Madrid.
The man from Kempen lost 3:6, 3:6 against the Croatian, who was 72 places better in the world rankings.
Coric had everything under control from the first serve and lived up to his favorite position. After only 75 minutes he used the first match point.
Altmaier only briefly hints at strengths
In the middle of the second set, Altmaier indicated his strengths, which had previously led him to a surprising 6: 3, 6: 0 in the game against the Spaniard Jaume Munar on Tuesday and thus to the quarter-finals. In this phase he played boldly and briskly and was able to keep up with the Croatians.
But then his game became more discouraged again. In the return game he acted much more passively again, and his serves also lacked the last pressure. In the end, the 24-year-old tennis pro from Kempen didn’t have a single break chance and deservedly lost.
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.
Struff fights for that on Thursday semi-final ticket
On Thursday (8 p.m.), Warsteiner Jan-Lennard Struff, the only remaining German player, will play Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals.
