Alexander Zverev and Jan-Lennard Struff are in the third round of the ATP tournament in Madrid. Jule Niemeier has retired.
Tennis Olympic champion Alexander Zverev has ATPtournament in Madrid fought through to the third round after a feat of strength. The 26-year-old won his second round match against the Spaniard Roberto Carballés Baena after almost three and a half hours 6: 7, (6: 8), 7: 5, 6: 0. In the third round of the clay court tournament, number 13 seeded Zverev meets French qualifier Hugo Grenier.
thigh problems in the first sentence
Zverev, who won the Masters 1000 tournament in 2018 and 2021, had to take a medical timeout in the first set due to apparent thigh problems. After the lost tie-break, the Hamburg player won sets two and three thanks to his good serve. At 1:22 a.m., Zverev converted his first match point. At the ATPtournament in Munich last week, he had failed at his opening hurdle.
Struff is also fighting his way into the third round
Jan-Lennard Struff won against Ben Shelton (USA/No. 32) 4: 6, 7: 6 (7: 4), 7: 5. Struff had lost in qualification, but had entered the main draw as a “lucky loser”. Against Shelton he equalized in the second set with nerves of steel and didn’t let himself be unsettled by a break in the rain in the decisive round.
German duel for the round of 16
Daniel Altmaier and Yannick Hanfmann had already surprisingly reached the third round. Altmaier and Hanfmann now meet in a duel for the round of 16. They are each standing at one for the first time in their careers masters-1000 tournament in the top 32.
Niemeier, Maria and Siegemund fail
Jule Niemeier was eliminated from the women’s competition. The 23-year-old from Dortmund failed in the third round at the Belgian Elise Mertens with 3: 6 and 4: 6. Previously, Niemeier had long-awaited success with two-set victories over the Chinese Wang Xinyu and the two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic).
In the first duel with Mertens, however, Niemeier had to admit defeat after 2:07 hours. The world number 67 made seven double mistakes. Tatjana Maria (Bad Saulgau) and Laura Siegemund (Metzingen) had already been eliminated in the second round.