MUNICH, April 29, 2017

The 2017 BMW Open by FWU kicked off with the official main draw ceremony held on Court 1 of the MTTC Iphitos on Saturday. Defending champion Philipp Kohlschreiber attended the opener.

BMW Open main draw

The three-time winner of the ATP 250 event will open his title bid against ATP NextGen star Casper Ruud. The 18-year-old from Oslo has put Norway back on the tennis map by clinching his first ATP Challenger title in Sevilla in September last year.

Ruud is one of the contenders for the 2017 ATP NextGen Finals and has already climbed up the ranking to World No. 127. At the beginning of the 2016 season, Ruud was ranked 1,139 in the world and received a wild card from tournament director Patrik Kühnen into the main draw. The pair will meet for the first time.

“I am full of motivation,” Kohlschreiber told on Saturday and added with a smile: “I am a couple of years older than him and I play at home, so I hope that I can send Patrik’s wild card back home.”

Tommy Haas is also ready to compete on German soil. The German veteran will start against Sergiy Stakhovsky from the Ukraine. Haas won the only previous match between two at the 2012 French Open. The Hamburg native emgerged victorious in three sets.

The top four seeds of the ATP 250 event will receive a first round bye. Top ranked Frenchman Gael Monfils awaits the winner of the encounter between German wild card Maximilian Marterer and ATP NextGen star Hyeon Chung.

Second seed Roberto Bautista-Agut from Spain will either face Thiago Monteiro of Brazil or Romanian Marius Copil. Alexander Zverev, the tournament’s number three, will start his title bid against Jeremy Chardy of France or a qualifier and fourth favourite Fabio Fognini from Italy opens his Munich campaign against a qualifier.

Second Round Of Qualifying Set

In the opening round of the qualifying, Cedrik-Marcel Stebe upset second seed Julien Benneteau of France, winning 6-2, 6-3. The 26-year-old German, who had been sidelined from the courts for more than one year between 2015 and 2016, broke serve five times to advance in one hour and 21 minutes.

“I am very happy with the win today. The goal is to qualify for the main draw again, which will not be very easy, but I am very thankful for every match I can play without being injured,” Stebe told afterwards. The World No. 322 will next take on Jerzy Janowicz from Poland, who edged past German Matthias Bachinger, winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

Argentine Guido Pella defeated Jonathan Eysseric of France 7-5, 6-2 to face Yannick Mertens next. The 29-year-old from Belgium eased past Kazakh teenager Alexander Bublik 6-1, 6-3 in only 51 minutes.

Yannick Hanfmann of Germany will face Uladzimir Ignatik, who beat local favourite Charly Zick. Jozef Kovalik from Slovakia beat German Yannick Maden 6-3, 6-4 to play Jeremy Jahn for a spot in the main draw.

Photo Gallery “Arrival of the Players”