CADOLZBURG/STARNBERG, January 15, 2025
Kaichi Uchida began his title bid at the Cadolzburg Open with a hard-fought first-round victory on Wednesday. The top seed of the ITF World Tennis Tour M15 indoor carpet event edged past Denis Petak from the Czech Republic 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-4.
Uchida, a two-time ATP Challenger champion, who is seeking his 13th triumph on the ITF Pro Circuit this week, overcame a slow start, withstood 18 aces and broke his rival one time to prevail after two hours and 10 minutes.
“It’s my first time on this surface. I have never played on carpet before. He served very well and I couldn’t get his serve,” Uchida said afterwards. “I saved my chances for the tie-break and he got under pressure. I got my rhythm and stayed confident. I am happy to be through and I hope that it will be better tomorrow. I feel comfortable to play tournaments in Germany.”
The 30-year-old Japanese will next take on local wild card entry Vincent Marysko, who beat Mika Petkovic of Germany 7-6, 6-4.
Engel starts title bid with solid win
In the bottom half of the draw, No. 2 seed Justin Engel also advanced to the second round. The 17-year-old German defeated French qualifier William Jucha 6-3, 6-4.
From the very beginning, Engel unleashed his powerful shots, putting his 20-year-old opponent under significant pressure. After securing the first break of the match to lead 4-2, he maintained his composure on serve and confidently closed out the first set.
With the momentum firmly on his side, the teenager from the TennisBase Oberhaching close to Munich, broke his opponent’s serve in the very first game of the second set and remained unstoppable on his own serve throughout. Engel sealed his victory with an ace, wrapping up the match in just 62 minutes.
“I’m very satisfied because everything went according to plan today,” Engel said. “I was able to execute my shots in the match exactly as I practiced them in training. It was incredibly motivating to have so many friends and my father watching, which created an amazing atmosphere for my opening match.”
On Thursday, the Nuremberg native will face a fellow German in Adrian Oetzbach, a former college player who defeated Czech Matyas Cerny 6-3, 7-5.
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