ISMANING, October 24, 2020
With Marc-Andrea Huesler from Switzerland and Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands, two unseeded players will go head to head in Sunday’s singles title match of the Wolffkran Open. Huesler knocked out No. 4 seed Antoine Hoang from France 6-4, 7-6(4) in the stage of the final four in Ismaning, Germany.
The 24-year-old leftie from Zurich native struck nine aces on the carpet and won 78 per cent of his first-service games to prevail after one hour and 27 minutes.
“I knew that I had to play good tennis in order to beat strong players, so I was aggressive right from the beginning,” said Huesler, who advanced to his first semi-final on the ATP Tour at the Generali Open in Kitzbühel early September and captured his second Challenger trophy at the Sibiu Open two weeks later. “I qualified for my first main draw here in Ismaning and have made a progress every year. It’s my third time here, I like the surface and it’s nice to be in the final.”
Earlier in the day, van de Zandschulp edged past No. 7 seed Prajnesh Gunneswaran of India 7-6(6), 6-1. The World No. 174 from Wageningen didn’t face a break point and converted two his own seven break-point opportunities to seal victory in one hour and 16 minutes.
“I served pretty well and played a good tie-break. I broke him at the beginning of the second set and it became easier,” van de Zandschulp said.
Huesler and van de Zandschulp will meet for the first time. The Swiss is seeking his third ATP Challenger career title, the Dutch could lift his second trophy following his maiden triumph in Hamburg last year.
Begemann/Pel with successful debut
In other action, Andre Begemann from Germany and Dutchman David Pel clinched the doubles title. The top seeds rallied past Lloyd Glasspool from Great Britain and US-American Alex Lawson 5-7, 7-6(2), 10-4 after one hour and 30 minutes.
“It was a nailbiter. It’s always tough on carpet. It comes down to serving well and keeping up the percentages,” Begemann said. “The other guys served really well and we just tried to stay in the match. We got little more comfortabel on returns. We had a good run in the match tie-break, which made the difference in the end.”
Begemann and Pel have teamed up for the first time. “Everything was new but it felt comfortable from the beginning. We had fun and it was great playing together,” Pel commented on the new partnership. The pair will also join forces at the ATP Challenger in Hamburg next week.
