STARNBERG, November 4, 2020
Alexei Popyrin of Australia opened his title bid at the Challenger Eckental on Tuesday with a comfortable 6-1, 6-4 first-round victory over Canadian Brayden Schnur. The No. 2 seed of the €88,520 ATP Challenger 100 event fired 10 aces and won 85 per cent of his first-service points to advance in only 49 minutes.
World No. 110 Popyrin will next take on Zdenek Kolar from the Czech Republic.
Ilya Ivashka also booked his place in the second round following a 6-2, 7-5 win over Dustin Brown from Germany. The No. 3 seed from Belarus broke his opponent’s serve four times to prevail after one hour and 15 minutes. Ivashka will next play Austria’s Jurij Rodionov, who fought past Ernests Gulbis from Latvia 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
In other action, Marc-Andrea Huesler, champion of the Wolffkran Open carpet indoor tournament in Ismaning two weeks ago, outlasted German wild card entry Maximilian Marterer 6-3, 5-7, 6-4. The World No. 156 from Switzerland struck 15 aces and won 54 per cent of the total points played to secure victory in one hour and 43 minutes.
Huesler will face German lucky loser Matthias Bachinger in the next round. The 33-year-old form Munich defeated compatriot Julian Lenz 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 in one of the longest matches of the day after two hours and six minutes.
