BRUNSWICK, July 10, 2015
The 32-man-draw has been whittled down to the final four at the 22nd edition of the ATP Challenger Sparkassen Open and they went head to head on Day 5 in Brunswick.
Last year’s runner-up Paul-Henri Mathieu has reached the final again beating Thiemo de Bakker 6-3, 6-3. The 33-year-old Frenchman had to save two break points and capitalized on five on his own to finish the match after one hour and 33 minutes.
Thiemo de Bakker
Paul Henri Mathieu
“It was a close match with tough conditions. Only a couple of points made the difference in the end. I broke his serve early in the second set and gained another one. That was the key,” Mathieu told afterwards and was not sure about the fact that the walkover he received in the quarterfinals might be considered as an advantage.
“I didn’t play so much and it is not easy to find the rhythm. It can be an advantage but it doesn’t have to be,” the former world number 12 explained, who reached his second final of the season. “I didn’t play that many Challengers in the past, so I was only able to claim one title at this level. Tomorrow is a final and of course you always want to win. I lost in Aix-en-Provence this year and so I will try my best tomorrow,” Mathieu is hoping to lift his second ATP Challenger trophy since winning in Segovia in 2004. He could also be the tournament’s first French champion since 2008, when Nicolas Devilder lifted the trophy in Brunswick.
In the second tour meeting between Filip Krajinovic and Taro Daniel, it was the 23-year-old Serbian, who celebrated his second victory, winning 7-5, 6-2. Krajinovic, who set himself the goal of reaching the main draw at this year’s US-Open, won 70% of his first service points, saved all of the three break points he faced and capitalized on six of his own to seal victory in one hour and 35 minutes.
Taro Daniel
Filip Krajinovic
The world number 122 was pleased reaching his first final of the season. Krajinovic will meet Mathieu for the first time on the tour and Tennis TourTalk spoke to him:
