BRAUNSCHWEIG, July 11, 2017

Yannick Hanfmann advanced to the second round at the €127,000 Sparkassen Open in Braunschweig, benefiting from the retirement of top seed Horacio Zeballos on Tuesday.

The World No. 52 from Argentina was forced to stop playing due to a back injury, trailing 3-6, 2-4.

“I noticed that he wasn’t physically at his best. There is still room for improvement for my own game,” Hanfmann told afterwards. The 25-year-old German will next take on Radu Albot from Moldova.

The tournament’s number two and defending champion, Thomaz Bellucci from Brazil, also fell in the opening round. The World No. 55 lost to Gastao Elias of Portugal 5-7, 2-6. The encounter lasted one hour and 30 minutes.

Fourth seed Carlos Berlocq remains the highest ranked player left in the draw. The 34-year-old from Argentina battled past Jan Satral from the Czech Republic converted five of his 17 break points to secure a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory in two hours and 42 minutes. The World No. 80 will next face Spanish teenager Nicola Kuhn.

Sixth favourite Norbert Gombos also advanced to the second round, winning 6-1, 6-1 over French veteran Paul-Henri Mathieu. The 26-year-old from Slovakia saved all four break points he faced, capitalizing on five of his own to prevail in only 57 minutes. Next up for Gombos will be Recanati champion Viktor Galovic from Croatia.