ANTALYA, June 25, 2019

Kevin Krawietz, part of the reigning Roland Garros doubles champions team together with Andreas Mies, secured his first ATP Tour main draw match win in singles on Tuesday. The 27-year-old German qualifier defeated in the first round of the Turkish Airlines Open Antalya local wild card entry Cem Ilkel 6-4, 6-4

On another sunny and hot day at the Kaya Belek Resort, Krawietz won 64 per cent of his first service points and broke his opponent two times to advance after only 58 minutes. It was his first victory in his fourth main draw appearance, his first since losing to Marinko Matosevic at the 2013 BMW Open in Munich.

It’s not all about doubles! In his fourth ATP main draw singles match, @rolandgarros champion Kevin Krawietz secures his first win, reaching the 2nd round of the @antalyaopen 6-4, 6-4 against Cel Ilkel. pic.twitter.com/f8KhxH1N3g

— Florian Heer (@Florian_Heer) 25. Juni 2019

“That’s a cool story. It also came as a surprise, as the focus is more on the doubles competition. I am pleased with my performance and happy to be in the next round,” Krawietz told Tennis TourTalk afterwards. The Coburg native also teamed up with his partner Mies, but the duo fell in the opening round to Jonathan Erlich of Israel and Artem Sitak from New Zealand. They will arrive at Wimbledon without having won one match on grass this season.

While Mies will travel back to Germany on Wednesday, Krawietz will stay at the Turkish Riviera, taking on fourth seeded Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta, who will play his first match since he retired in the third round of the French Open.

“I was pretty relaxed on the court today,” Krawietz said. “I tried to come to the net as often as possible, playing serve and volley as well. Pablo is an outstanding player but I already got used to the conditions here, which could be an advantage. Let’s see what’s going to happen tomorrow.”

Earlier in the day, defending champion Damir Dzumhur held off the good run of Turkish wild card entry Altug Celikbilek, who celebrated his first tour-level win against former top 10 Ernests Gulbis on Monday. The No. 5 seed from Bosnia and Herzegovina won 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 in one hour and 48 minutes. Dzumhur will take on third favourite Jordan Thompson of Australia in the quarterfinals.

Adrian Mannarino, last year’s runner up at the Antalya Open, also booked his spot in the stage of the final eight. The No. 2 seed from France rallied past Roberto Carballes Baena 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the final match of the day. Up next for Mannarino will be Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.

Photo Gallery (by Florian Heer)