STUTTGART-STAMMHEIM

It is the second consecutive week on the ITF Future Circuit, which is taking place in Germany. This time the Pro Tour has arrived in Stuttgart-Stammheim, in the north of Baden-Württemberg’s capital, where the combined event – named Südwestbank-Cup – is held at the state’s federal tennis centre.

In the first of Saturday’s men’s semi-finals only 19-year-old German Maximilian Marterer defeated Sebastien Boltz winning 6-4, 6-4. The leftie from Nuremberg, considered as one of Germany’s biggest talents impressed through powerful services and strong baseline shots. Both players played their first tournament of the season but Marterer seemed to find his rhythm quicker in the early stages of the season and reached the final without dropping a set throughout the week beating the French in 70 minutes.

Sebastien Boltz played his first tournament of the season

Maximilian Marterer reached his sixth ITF career final

“My serve worked pretty well today and I was very solid in my service games today. I capitalized on my break point opportunities and I was full awake in the deciding moments,” Marterer told Tennis TourTalk about the keys to success today. “The surface is pretty fast, which seemed to suit my service. The balls bounce very high, so I am able to put pressure on my opponent with my forehand. Physically I feel really good, I am fit and I just hope that I can gain my first title tomorrow,” the world number 462 said and is looking forward to Sunday’s final. Marterer played five finals on the ITF Future Circuit but is still waiting to lift his first trophy.

The German teenager needs to overcome the tournament’s top-seed Uladzimir Ignatik to fulfil his wish. The 24-year-old from Minsk beat Filip Veger in the second semi-final winning 6-4, 6-4. Both players came over from last week’s event in Schwieberdingen, only about ten kilometres off Stuttgart-Stammheim. Seven days ago Ignatik made it into the stage of the final four but lost to his compatriot Ilya Ivashka. Veger lost in first round and was also without any chance in today’s encounter. The 20-year-old Croatian tried to be aggressive but the Belorussian had the better answers on court and hit some beautiful passing shots and served out in about 75 minutes.

Uladzimir Ignatik faced Filip Veger for the first time

“The match wasn’t that easy as the scoreboard says. It was a very intense encounter. Filip had very good chances in the first set when he broke me back and I also had to save break points in the eighth game. This was very tough but I survived it and after that I started to play a bit more aggressively. I made many winners today and I was always able to play my game,” Ignatik analysed the match. “I am happy that I am back here in Stuttgart. I serve pretty well here and I feel good on court,” the world number 220 said about his chances defending his title on Sunday, although he almost would not have had the opportunity to do so. “Due to Christmas and New Year, the ITF office was closed and the entry deadline for this tournament was one week earlier. I was supposed to enter for Stammheim the same week as Schwieberdingen but I didn’t recognize this. It was my mistake and when I checked it, it was a little bit too late. Nonetheless I was lucky to play the qualification and so I had some extra matches,” Ignatik told with a smile.

Schwieberdingen’s singles champion Mick Lescure gained his first doubles title teaming up with his good friend Tom Jomby. The French tandem beat top-seeded German team of Kevin Krawietz and Maximilian Marterer winning 7-6, 6-4.

“In the beginning of the match I had some problems with my return game but then I took the balls earlier and was more risky. We went on playing some good shots and our footwork worked well for our aggressive game. Marterer seemed to be a bit a tired in the end and we capitalized on our chances,” Jomby analysed the doubles final. “It’s great to end our tour here in Germany with a success. We lost our last two doubles finals and it’s nice to get some confidence for our next tournaments in Kazakhstan,” he told about going to Astana next. “We had two extraordinary weeks here in Germany and I was able to win two titles. In particular gaining the doubles title here with my friend is great,” Lescure added.

Mick Lescure and Tom Jomby enjoyed two great weeks in Germany

In the women’s doubles final top-seeds Lenka Kuncikova and Karolina Stuchla defeated Martina Borecka and Jesika Maleckova in an all-Czech-affair winning 6-2, 6-3. In the women’s single final top-seed Pemra Ozgen, who beat Karolina Stuchla 7-5, 6-2 will face Antonia Lottner on Sunday, who receveived a walkover due to illness of her opponent Sina Haas.

Lenka Kuncikova and Karolina Stuchla took the doubles title in Stuttgart-Stammheim

The “winning four” in Stuttgart-Stammheim on Saturday