Yannick Hanfmann fights, fends off match points – but in the end it wasn’t enough in his round of 16 at the tennis tournament in Stuttgart. Jan-Lennard Struff has also left.
Tennis player Yannick Hanfmann missed the quarterfinals of the lawn tournament in Stuttgart and a milestone in his career. In a round of 16 evenly balanced over two sets, the Karlsruher lost to the lively and courageous Italian Mattia Bellucci 5:7, 7:6 (7:4), 2:6. With a success, the 34-year-old would have reached the round of the best eight at the Weissenhof for the first time and his 100th victory on the ATP tour – in his 200th game.
After equalizing the set: Hanfmann missed a comeback in the third set
After fending off two match points in the second set, Hanfmann saved himself into the decisive round by winning the tiebreak. The German apparently had problems there and had his back treated after two service losses when the score was 1:4.
Hanfmann had predicted that the 25-year-old would be tricky as a left-hander, but said after his first-round success: “I showed a good match. If I can deliver my performance again, I think it should look okay.” But out of frustration, the Karlsruher threw his racket on his bag after losing the set. The German number two couldn’t even take the serve from the variable Bellucci.
Jan-Lennard Struff also failed in the round of 16
Jan-Lennard Struff was the second German to make it to the round of 16. But Struff missed the surprise against the top Kazakh player Alexander Bublik. He was also the last remaining German professional who failed at the ATP tournament on Wednesday evening. In the round of 16 of the grass event, the veteran (36) lost 6:7 (3:7), 6:3, 2:6 despite a decent performance. In the first round of the French Open, Struff surprisingly took the then top ten player Bublik out of the tournament. This time he lost a game in which things got strange in the middle of the first set.
Loud party music blared onto the court from somewhere on the grounds. Struff, who was about to fend off a breakball, was forced to take a break. The game could only be continued after repeated requests from the chair referee and a break of several minutes. Struff didn’t let himself be disturbed and won his service, but in the end the class of the strong-serving Kazakh still prevailed.
