AUGSBURG, August 8, 2019 (by Dietmar Kaspar)
On a hot and sunny Thursday, third-action of the $46,600 Schwaben Open took place at the venue of the TC Augsburg Siebentisch.
In the match of the day on Centre Court, Yannick Hanfmann rallied past fellow German and No. 2 seed Matthias Bachinger 6-7, 6-2, 6-1. Hanfmann, who lost the only previous meeting between the two at last week’s qualifying of the ATP 250 event in Kitzbühel, broke his opponent’s serve four times in the second and third set to secure victory in one hour and 54 minutes.
„I am really happy about my performance. I had a bad start into the match, remembering my loss against him one week ago. I tried to stay calm, enjoying the atmosphere out here. It is not easy for me to get a good match plan against Matthias, but I tried to focus on my serve,” Hanfmann said.
No. 15 seeded Hanfmann, who practices at the TennisBase Oberhaching, will next meet Jeroen Vanneste in the stage of the last eight.
The ITF-entry from Belgium emerged victorious from a topsy-turvy encounter against French Manuel Guinard, winning 6-1, 0-6, 6-4. Vanneste won five points more than his opponent to prevail after one hour and 22 minutes.
Ruusuvuori edges out Laaksonen
Young gun Emil Ruusuvuori upsed top seed Henri Laaksonen from Switzerland, winning 6-3, 6-4. The 20-year-old Finn capitalized on all of his two break-point chances without losing a service game to advance after 68 minutes.
„I think it is the biggest win of my career,” World No. 237 Ruusuvuori said, who will next compete against Spaniard Pedro Martinez.
The No. 6 seed defeated Austrian Sebastian Ofner 6-4, 6-1. Martinez won 89 per cent of his second-service points to claim a 6-4, 6-1 victory in 59 minutes.
“The conditions on the court were a little bit faster than I expected. Sebastian has an amazing serve, but I returned well. I was running a lot and played a very good match“, Martinez said.
Lenz advances
World No. 313 Julian Lenz remained untroubled in his 6-1, 6-2 win against No. 13 seed Mario Vilella Martinez from Spain. The 26-year-old German stayed aggressive, capitalizing on four of his nine break-point opportunities to prevail after 57 minutes.
“I felt better than in my first two matches. I had a clear match strategy and with exception of some points I was able to convert it throughout the match. I put a lot of pressure on him to keep the rallies short,” Lenz said.
Spanish veteran Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, who entered the competition on position seven, survived a tough three-set battle against his compatriot Carlos Taberner. The 36-year-old was serving for the match in the second set at the score of 5-4, losing the next three games. Lasting two hours and 37 minutes, the ATP No. 161 got the victory by the score of 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 to meet Lenz in the quarterfinals.
„I expected a tough match, because I lost to him 4-6 in the deciding set at a Challenger event earlier this season. I had to change the rhythm of the match with a lot of slice and drop-shots“, Garcia Lopez said after the encounter.
Mena to face Altmaier
Earlier in the day, Facundo Mena of Argentina defeated German Benjamin Hassan 4-6, 6-1, 6-0. After winning the first set, the 24-year-old German completely lost the control of the match. Mena, who is ranked World No. 315, broke his opponent’s serve five times in the following two sets to finish the encounter after 83 minutes.
“I got ill tonight. I did not get much sleep and there was only energy for one set today,” Hassan stated.
Mena will oppose Daniel Altmaier of Germany in the stage of the last eight. The 20-year-old wild card entry knocked out the tournament’s No. 3 Filippo Baldi from Italy 7-6, 6-3 in one hour and 34 minutes.
A look ahead
Three Germans will be in action on quarterfinal’s Friday. For tickets, please visit the tournament’s official homepage.
