20:01
Cerundolo – Hanfmann 6: 3, 2: 0
Difficult start for Hanfmann. At 30 both he moves a little too aggressively to the net and can no longer return the longline hit backhand. Because Cerundolo then also hits the line and the ball bounces slightly, the 31-year-old’s forehand lands in the net – again the early break.
19:57
Cerundolo – Hanfmann 6: 3, 1: 0
The second set is running, Cerundolo opens with his own serve. At 30, the 24-year-old grabs this first game.
19:51
Cerundolo – Hanfmann 6: 3, 0: 0
That was it with sentence one: Cerundolo is now in mode, while Hanfmann produces far too many errors. In no time at all he gives up his service for the third time, so the first round is gone – and that after 67 minutes of play.
19:48
Cerundolo – Hanfmann 5:3
That went relatively quickly. In less than four minutes, Cerundolo grabs the 15 5:3 in the games. Hanfmann is now serving against losing the set.
19:45
Cerundolo – Hanfmann 4:3
It happened only a short time later – and Hanfmann shouldn’t like that at all. Cerundolo fights his way to the umpteenth breakball, which he converts with a smash from the half-field after the German has previously stopped. He, in turn, sends the ball into the Paris evening sky out of frustration and waves ironically afterwards.
19:43
Cerundolo – Hanfmann 3:3
Fine thing from Cerundolo! Hanfmann completes the net well and flat in his forehand, but then concedes a great cross pass ball to 0:15. A few points later it works – how could it be otherwise? – again over the debut, because Hanfmann’s backhand longline gets stuck on the edge of the net. After a game ball wasted, Cerundolo got stronger again: A forehand cross close to the net gave him a breakball, which he missed due to a torn forehand cross. Then the well-known game develops. Both players miss numerous chances to bag the game. Meanwhile, there are one or the other pretty point to marvel at. For example at the sixth debut, when both of them deliver a backhand cross rally played with an extreme angle, which Hanfmann ultimately decides in his favour.
19:32
Cerundolo – Hanfmann 3:3
There’s something in it again for Hanfmann. At Spielball Cerundolo he waits a long time with the forehand from the half-field and watches his opponent – debut. He also fends off the second opportunity to win the game because he keeps moving Cerundolo well from left to right. A little later, the Karlsruher has to get annoyed: The Argentine plays a weak stop that he can simply put past him. Instead, he hits the ball just too long and fritters away the chance to break the ball. This time Cerundolo snaps at his own advantage. 3:3.
19:23
Cerundolo – Hanfmann 2:3
Both players don’t really feel comfortable with their own serve. Now it is again the Badener who gets his problems and has a breakball against him. Cerundolo actually has the point under control, but at the same time it’s very unfortunate that his forehand jumps off the edge of the net. The 24-year-old currently only wins four out of eleven rallies with more than eight strokes – from his point of view he has to win points quickly. On the other hand, Hanfmann has something to object to: With a fine backhand slice stop, he creates the opportunity to make it 3:2, which he finally uses. Things are going well again for the veteran.
19:18
Cerundolo – Hanfmann 2:2
Winning the game obviously gave Hanfmann courage. With powerful baseline shots and security in the rallies, he is now creating two break chances. He uses the second because the error-prone Cerundolo threw his forehand into the net.
19:13
Cerundolo – Hanfmann 2:1
Then it’s done! Two balls later, Hanfmann wins this service game to thunderous applause from the audience. The game is already 28 minutes old at this point.
19:12
Cerundolo – Hanfmann 2:0
It never ends. Hanfmann leaves two more game balls, we are now at the tenth start of this service game. Then the 31-year-old slowly lost his patience. After failing to take advantage again, he screams his anger at the top of his lungs. He then fires a fantastic backhand cross onto the field as a winner before Cerundolo responds with the inside-in return winner. For 18 minutes no player has been able to become the winner of this service game.
19:08
Cerundolo – Hanfmann 2:0
Bitter for Hanfmann: He made a foot mistake on the first serve and the second serve and thus had the fifth break point of the game against him. With a service winner, he again ruins this opportunity. After that it goes up and down. First Hanfmann doesn’t use a game ball, then he fends off Cerundolo’s next chance to break. In between there is also nice tennis to see. Hanfmann scores with a forehand stop, Cerundolo counters with an inside-in winner.
19:01
Cerundolo – Hanfmann 2:0
Annoying mistake by Hanfmann. At 30 both he has a lot of time with a smash from the half field, but he slams the ball quite clearly into the side and gives the next break chance. This in turn forgives Cerundolo with a weak return. An unfortunate forehand by the favorite, which ends up in Hanfmann’s Platzeck, forces him to make the next mistake and gives him the next opportunity to break. Here the German advances to the net, plays a weak half-volley and is extremely lucky that Cerundolo thunders the ball longline out of bounds. Hanfmann also fends off the next two breakballs. It remains complicated.
18:55
Cerundolo – Hanfmann 2:0
Cerundolo is also struggling with his own serve. The 24-year-old even has to fend off a breakball, but then makes it 2-0 in the games with two good serves. Now Hanfmann has to grab the service.
18:49
Cerundolo – Hanfmann 1:0
Let’s go, Hanfmann opens with his own serve. It also gets a bit tricky right away, as the Argentine quickly leads 30-0 and, as a result of his opponent’s forehand being too long, has a first break ball a little later. He uses this in a spectacular way: Hanfmann plays a weak stop, but somehow completes the backhand Cerundolos hit on the body back. For his part, the man from Buenos Aires gets the forehand volley from the half field using the edge of the net over the pitch separation. Not a good start for the Karlsruher.
18:43
warm up
Both players are on the field and warming up. It’s about to start!
18:28
Ascending form
The clay court season is going very well for the South American. After solid performances in Barcelona (quarter-finals, where he beat Casper Ruud) and in Madrid (losing to Pedro Cachin at the start), things got better and better. At the Masters in Rome, after a triumph over Jannik Sinner, among other things, he only had to admit defeat to Casper Ruud in the quarterfinals. In Lyon it was even enough for the final, where he lost to Arthur Fils from France. So far there has only been one small flaw at the French Open: he won his only match against the Spaniard Jaume Munar in four sets 6: 1, 2: 6, 7: 6, 6: 1.
18:25
Exciting start
For the German, the French Open started with a real emotional roller coaster ride. First he failed in the last qualifying round at Swede Mikael Ymer, but still moved up into the main draw due to the withdrawal of Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi. There he already led 2-0 in sets in his first round match against Thiago Monteiro, but ultimately had to go the full distance. Since he won the final round, he made it through to the second round thanks to the 6:3, 7:5, 6:7, 6:7, 6:4. Cerundolo is now waiting there.
18:21
We’ll be there soon
Frances Tiafoe defeats Aslan Karatsev in four sets on Court Simonne Mathieu. This will soon free up space for our match. So it won’t be long now.
16:47
Hello!
Hello and welcome to the second round of the French Open! With Yannick Hanfmann, a German intervenes in the action today. He meets the Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo. The serve does not take place before 5:10 p.m., delays backwards are possible due to previous games.