21:23
Altmaier – Gasquet 2: 1
In the longest rally so far, it is again the French who make a serious mistake. That brings his opponent three breakballs.
21:22
Altmaier – Gasquet 2: 1
So this forehand inside-in by Altmaier should be the first winner of the match. But the next mistake is not far away, Gasquet gets stuck in the net.
21:20
Altmaier – Gasquet 2: 1
Gasquet believes he has fended off a cue ball, went offensively on the forehand and, in his opinion, placed the felt ball exactly. But again, the chair umpire looks at the imprint and passes the ball out. So Altmaier comes to zero to win the game and takes a 2-1 lead.
21:18
Altmaier – Gasquet 1:1
Altmaier can now also build on Gasquet’s mistakes. And when the Frenchman doesn’t have a lucky hand with a backhand stop and his opponent only has to push in the forehand, three balls are ready.
21:17
Altmaier – Gasquet 1:1
Now a forehand inside-in is given by Altmaier Aus. Mohamed Lahyani makes an effort from his referee’s chair and corrects the decision. There are two new balls. And now the Kempener makes a quick point with a good first serve.
21:15
Altmaier – Gasquet 1:1
Once Gasquet holds back well, scoring in forward gear with the forehand volley. But then the veteran makes the first double mistake of the match, with which he gives the break back.
21:14
Altmaier – Gasquet 0: 1
Despite the false start, Altmaier is undeterred, takes matters into his own hands and uses pressure to force the opponent to make a mistake. A little later, Gasquet forgives a backhand without need. This gives the German two chances for an immediate re-break.
21:12
Altmaier – Gasquet 0: 1
But then this concept of the French no longer works. The 37-year-old misses a backhand slice and gives Altmaier the first point in this match.
21:12
Altmaier – Gasquet 0: 1
So far, Gasquet has only had to return the balls and wait for the opponent’s mistakes. They continue to come reliably.
21:11
Altmaier – Gasquet 0: 1
The longest rally follows, which gives Altmaier the opportunity to possibly find some rhythm. In any case, the Rhinelander still has the courage to take the initiative. That goes shoot. With the next mistake, the 24-year-old gives up his service without a hitch.
21:09
Altmaier – Gasquet 0:0
The first one doesn’t come at all. This is accompanied by mistakes. Now a forehand longline doesn’t make it over the game hazard. And already, without having to do much, Gasquet has three break points.
21:07
1 sentence
Now Altmaier opens the match and has to try the second serve. The unseeded German ended the subsequent rally with a forehand that was too long.
21:01
Entry and coin toss
At this moment, our protagonists enter the court under the closed roof of the tennis stadium at Hamburg’s Rothenbaum. After a few steps of preparation, the Swedish chair umpire Mohamed Lahyani meets at the net to vote. The coin falls in favor of the French, who decide to hit back. Then both play a bit.
20:52
Shortly
Bernarda Pera has just converted her third match point, beating Zeynep Sönmez 6: 2, 1: 6 and 6: 4 after almost two hours. This means that the center court will soon be free for the last match of the day, which should start shortly after nine.
20:42
Next consolation
Once again we need to be comforted. The players are gradually taking it to the extreme. The third set is still undecided, so we’ll have to wait at least until 9:00 p.m. – and of course Messrs Altmaier and Gasquet too.
20:30
Head 2 Head
For the third time, the pros will face off on the tennis court for an official match. The two previous games each took place on clay in 2021. Gasquet had the better end of both the Emilia-Romagna Open in Parma and the semi-finals in Umag – in the latter clash in three sets.
20:19
Gasquet in Hamburg
In Hamburg, Gasquet opens for the seventh time. The Frenchman caused quite a stir on his debut, reached the final, which he lost to Roger Federer in three sets. Since then, however, he has never played more than two matches in the Hanseatic city – including his last appearance in 2019 with the knockout round against Jérémy Chardy.
20:08
Still waiting
Zeynep Sönmez has just managed to equalize the sentence. The Turkish qualifier forces the defending champion Bernarda Pera into a third round. For and that means an even longer waiting time – at least until 8:45 p.m.
20:01
Once in the top 10
Richard Gasquet was actually number 7 in the world in 2007. Currently, the 37-year-old is still 48. His greatest successes include the French Open title in mixed 2004 and Olympic bronze in 2012 in doubles. As a singles player, the Frenchman has lost three Masters finals and reached three Grand Slam semifinals (Wimbledon 2007, 2015 and US Open 2013). The right-hander played most of his 33 finals on the ATP tour in smaller tournaments and won 16 of them. His last triumph came at the beginning of the year in the Auckland 250cc. After losing the first round in Wimbledon, Gasquet played a challenger on clay in San Benedetto Del Tronto and lost out in the final against compatriot Benoît Paire.
19:51
Altmaier on sand
Altmaier feels comfortable on clay, has played the largest number of his ten finals on the Challenger Tour there and won six of the seven titles on the red ash – the last in April in Sarasota. The man from Kempen also got the best Grand Slam and Masters results on sand. In Roland Garros he was in the round of 16 in 2020. This year it was the third round and also the quarterfinals at the Masters of Madrid. Altmaier is in 61st place in the world rankings and was 53rd last season.
19:41
Altmaier still without a win in Hamburg
Daniel Altmaier is at the start for the fifth time since his debut at the tennis tournament in Hamburg. The 24-year-old has never won a singles match at Rothenbaum. The right-hander was always thrown out immediately in the first round. Of course, the Rhinelander wants to break this curse today.
19:31
Welcome back!
Women are still at work on Center Court. After Jule Niemeier’s three-set success in the German duel against Ella Seidel, Bernarda Pera has just won the first set against Zeynep Sönmez. So it will take a while. We’re now expecting our men’s match around 8:15 p.m.
18:03
See you later!
At least the rain currently falling on the Rothenbaum can’t harm us under the roof of the Center Court. However, planning is limited. We will continue to monitor what is happening and will get back to you in due course. See you later!
17:53
Even more patience
It is already clear that we will have to be a little more patient. On the center court, Ella Seidel and Jule Niemeier do not agree, they are just going into a third sentence. This is followed by Bernarda Pera against Zeynep Sönmez. So we’re easily at 7:45 p.m., until it’s our turn at best.
17:43
delay
Due to the four matches previously scheduled on Center Court, the start is pushed back quite a bit. A game of women is currently running, another is to follow. At the moment we have to assume that nothing will happen with our men before 7 p.m.
17:33
Welcome
Welcome to the European Open in Hamburg! The clay court tournament in the Hanseatic city is an ATP 500 tournament. This Monday we take a closer look at the first round game between Daniel Altmaier and Richard Gasquet. Originally, the match was not scheduled until 6:00 p.m.