ISMANING, October 22, 2020
German veteran Tobias Kamke knocked out 2017 Wolffkran Open champion and this year’s No. 2 seed Yannick Hanfmann in the second round of the €44,820 ATP Challenger tournament, held on carpet at the Tennis Club Ismaning. The 34-year-old from Lübeck defeated his compatriot 6-1, 6-4 on Thursday afternoon.
Kamke, who advanced to the semi-final of the Open Rennes in France in February, saved all five break points and converted three of his own six break point chances to prevail after one hour and 13 minutes.
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“Although Yannick has played really well since the re-start of the tour, I knew that I will have my chance today. I have felt good here from the first round and I know that I have a solid game on carpet,” Kamke told Tennis TourTalk afterwards.
“I grew up on this surface, as we didn’t have many hard courts in Germany in the past. Nonetheless, I haven’t played many matches on carpet in recent times. I only played twice in Eckental but I got used to the conditions quickly. I like these flat strokes and was pretty successful at Futures in the past.”
Before arriving at Ismaning, Kamke competed in the French Open at Roland Garros but didn’t seem to have problems to adapt from the clay to indoors. “It worked out very well and I am very happy,” he said.
Kamke will next take on World No. 174 Botic van den Zandschulp from the Netherlands. “We haven’t met so far,” Kamke said of his upcoming opponent. “But I saw a few of his matches. I am pretty surprised that he isn’t ranked higher, as his game seems to belong to the Top 100. A few things are still missing, but he has played a very strong week here so far and it will be a very difficult challenge. I am looking forward to an interesting match.”
Masur advances
In the other match in the bottom half of the draw, Daniel Masur emerged victorious from the all-German affair with wild card entry Mats Rosenkranz, winning 6-4, 6-3. The qualifier withstood 11 aces and broke his opponent’s serve four times to seal victory in only 56 minutes.
“Except for two or three points, there is nothing to complain about in this match,” said Masur after reaching his first semif-final of the season. “I am super happy to beat such a strong player on this surface.” Next up for the 25-year-old, who currently practices at the TennisBase Oberhaching, will be No. 7 seed Prajnesh Gunneswaran of India.
Huesler to face Korda
In the top half of the draw, Marc-Andrea Huesler booked his spot in the quarterfinals following 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 win over Canadian Brayden Schnur. The 24-year-old from Switzerland fired 15 aces and won 78 per cent of his first-service points to advance in one hour and 48 minutes.
Huesler will next oppose young US-American Sebastian Korda. The 20-year-old, seeded on position five, fought past German qualifier Julian Lenz 7-6(4), 6-3 in one hour and 33 minutes.
