Tennis pro Daniel Altmaier (Kempen) was the first German to qualify for the round of 16 in the men’s competition at Hamburg’s Rothenbaum. In the women’s category, Noma Noha Akugue from Reinbek and Jule Niemeier from Dortmund advanced one round.
Altmaier defeated Frenchman Richard Gasquet 7-5, 6-4 in the last match of the day on Center Court late Monday evening. The 24-year-old’s next opponent is either the top seeded Russian Andrei Rublev or the Spaniard Bernabe Zapata Miralles.
Local hero Alexander Zverev will start the tournament on Tuesday. The 26-year-old, seeded number four, will start with Slovakian Alex Molcan. Yannick Hanfmann (Karlsruhe) meets the Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo, and there is also a German duel between Maximilian Marterer (Nuremberg) and Rudi Molleker (Berlin).
Noha Akugue surprises
In the women’s competition, 19-year-old Noha Akugue, who competes in the Hanseatic city with a wild card, caused a surprise. The Hamburg native beat Laura Pigossi 7-5, 6-4 and celebrated her first win on the WTA Tour. She lost to the Brazilian in the second qualifying round for the Grand Slam tournament in Paris. Now the German champion of 2020 meets the number one seeded Donna Vekic (Croatia) or the Australian Storm Hunter.
Niemeier defeats Seidel
Jule Niemeier is also one lap further. The 23-year-old, who surprisingly reached the quarter-finals of the tennis classic in Wimbledon in 2022, is struggling with her form this year: in twelve tournaments, she was eliminated in the first round.
Things went better at Rothenbaum: The former world number 61. prevailed against 18-year-old Ella Seidel from Hamburg 7: 6 (7: 5), 1: 6, 6: 3. Niemeier now meets number six seeded Kazakh Julia Putinzeva. Last year’s winner Bernarda Pera (USA) struggled to a 6:2, 1:6, 6:4 against Zeynep Sönmez from Turkey.
Lys on Tuesday against Sherif
Already on Sunday, Tamara Korpatsch had reached the round of 16 of the clay court event with a 3:6, 6:2, 6:1 against the Argentine Maria Carle. In addition to Korpatsch, Noha Akugue and Niemeier, Eva Lys serves from a German perspective. The Hamburg native meets Egyptian Mayar Sherif on Tuesday.
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Hamburg Journal | 07/23/2023 | 19:30 o’clock
