20:01
Altmaier – Lestienne 6: 7, 1: 1
Oops – all of a sudden Lestienne has problems. Because he is currently missing the touch, Altmaier suddenly has a breakball on his plate. But since this fails the return, it’s about debut. There Lestienne has the upper hand quite effortlessly and equalizes to 1:1.
19:54
Altmaier – Lestienne 6: 7, 1: 0
The second sentence begins, this time Altmaier serves first. After 3:30 p.m., the man from Kempen does well, secures the next three points with courageous offensive shots and takes the lead in this set.
19:47
Altmaier – Lestienne 6: 7, 0: 0
Too good for Altmaier! The German goes from the half field with the forehand to the net. Lestienne unpacks an outstanding backhand lob on the baseline, which Altmaier can no longer achieve. The first sentence is done with that.
19:46
Altmaier – Lestienne 6: 6 (5: 6)
It is Lestienne who benefits from the fact that Altmaier pushes his forehand longline into the net without need. The Frenchman is now allowed to serve himself.
19:45
Altmaier – Lestienne 6: 6 (5: 5)
Lestienne keeps a cool head. He hits both serves, now it’s getting really hot in this sentence. Altmaier advances well to the net with his own service, then completes to 5: 5. Who secures the first set point?
19:44
Altmaier – Lestienne 6: 6 (4: 3)
That goes well for Altmaier at first. The next three points all go to his account, but after the break he was unlucky with a net edge roller: his forehand stayed in his own half. He also gives up the mini-break again.
19:40
Altmaier – Lestienne 6: 6 (1: 2)
Bitter mistake from the German: Lestienne is not well positioned on the net. Altmaier pushes the ball out of the half-field with the forehand but longline out. The following rally shows how little mini-breaks are worth here: Lestienne’s backhand slice fails completely, so he gives away his small advantage directly. A torn forehand by Altmaier brings the French 2-1.
19:39
Altmaier – Lestienne 6: 6
Altmaier makes the tie-break clear in no time at all. The first set goes the full distance.
19:35
Altmaier – Lestienne 5: 6
Altmaier gets too impatient: At 30:30 he defends himself outstandingly and finds his way back to the rally. But then he threw his forehand into the net without needing it – the 24-year-old must make more of such situations. He then boldly attacks the net, but gets the lob played back into the field again and again. 6: 5 for Lestienne.
19:30
Altmaier – Lestienne 5: 5
Well solved by the Kempener. He keeps his nerves, wins his service game and makes it 5:5. So we see an overtime in this round.
19:25
Altmaier – Lestienne 4: 5
On the other side it is also fixed. Without much effort, Lestienne rushes to 5: 4 in the games. Altmaier serves against losing the set.
19:23
Altmaier – Lestienne 4: 4
It’s already looking much better at Altmaier. Fewer mistakes and a more powerful attacking game ensure a balanced game. Also, Lestienne has lost a little compared to ten minutes ago.
19:18
Altmaier – Lestienne 3: 4
Now the Frenchman can try his serve again. He is still largely in control here, but now Altmaier is better at serving his opponent. With good length in his shots, he gets a breakball, which he takes thanks to a simple mistake by Lestienne. Everything back in order.
19:13
Altmaier – Lestienne 2: 4
What a touch of Lestienne! First he plays an extremely difficult half-volley with the backhand short-cross. Then he unpacks the volley praise to the baseline, which Altmaier can no longer get – 0:15. The German grabs the next four points again, after losing four games in a row, he keeps his serve again.
19:08
Altmaier – Lestienne 1:4
Lestienne is currently playing herself into a frenzy. Several strong backhand crosses and easy-looking winners from the apron quickly put the lid on the fifth game.
19:06
Altmaier – Lestienne 1:3
Altmaier hasn’t really been in the match since his 1-0 break. A few mistakes and many unused opportunities give Lestienne three breakballs again. Two unconventional forehand slices present Altmaier with too many problems – he gives up his serve to zero.
19:03
Altmaier – Lestienne 1:2
Lestienne does it better this time than in his service game before. At 15, the third game of this set bags.
19:00
Altmaier – Lestienne 1:1
Altmaier also has a hard time with his own serve. He is behind quite quickly at 15:30, at 30 both he moves the backhand volley at the net behind the baseline. He then fends off the breakball with a service winner, and Lestienne then uses the second opportunity with a fine praise. It can go so fast.
18:54
Altmaier 1-0 Lestienne
Here we go, Lestienne opens the encounter with her own service. He has to give up the first two points, and then Altmaier forces him to make a mistake on the forehand side. In the end, it’s just a devious forehand by the Frenchman who gets the first break – to zero! – sealed Meanwhile, Lestienne is busy arguing with the referee. Something in the stands seems to bother him.
18:47
Not for long
Both players have now arrived on the court and are warming up. It can start right away!
18:17
We have to wait
The start of the match is delayed. As soon as it starts with Altmaier-Lestienne, it continues at this point.
18:07
One outlier and many poor results
With one exception, the Frenchman’s form curve is also pointing downwards. After disappointing results during the clay court and grass season, things didn’t work out on the hard courts either. He only showed his skills at the Challenger in Stanford: He won the tournament with only one set loss. A week ago, on the other hand, he received the next disappointment. In Winston-Salem he failed in the first lap directly to Altmaier’s compatriot Dominik Koepfer. A good sign for the German?
18:04
No good results
In the last few weeks and months, Altmaier has regularly ended in the first round of a tournament. He was only able to achieve good results at the Challenger in Braunschweig and in Hamburg am Rothenbaum (quarterfinals in each case). Otherwise, his last really convincing tournament was more than three months ago. In May he made it to the quarterfinals at the Masters in Madrid, where he lost to Borna Coric (3:6, 3:6). At the most recent tournament in Cincinnati, they went home after the first round (7: 6, 4: 6, 4: 6 against Alexei Popyrin). Today, with Lestienne, a game at eye level awaits – at least on paper.
17:41
Hello!
Hello and welcome to the first round of this year’s US Open! In Flushing Meadows, Daniel Altmaier has to deal with Constant Lestienne at the beginning. Served at around 6:15 p.m.