MUNICH, April 27, 2021
The local favourites headlined Tuesday’s first-round action at the BMW Open in Munich, led by No. 7 seed Jan-Lennard Struff, who defeated Slovakian lucky loser Andrej Martin 6-4, 6-3 in sunny conditions on Centre Court at the venue of the MTTC Iphitos.
Struff sent down six aces and won 81 per cent of his first-service points to advance in one hour and 16 minutes.
“I’m very happy that I won, because I really wanted to do better than in 2019 when I lost to Thiago Monteiro in the first round here in Munich. It wasn’t all perfect yet and my service rate could be improved, but overall it was a solid win,” said Struff, who celebrated his 31st birthday on Sunday.
“When I turned 30 last year it started to feel different than being in your twenties but I still want to enjoy a couple of good years on the tour,” the Warstein native stated during his virtual press conference.
Struff will continue his pursuit of a first ATP Tour title against fellow German Dominik Koepfer. The 26-year-old two-time All-American at Tulane University emerged victorious from the battle with three-time Munich champion Philipp Kohlschreiber, winning 4-6, 6-4, 6-3. Koepfer capitalized on six of his 10 break-point opportunities to prevail after two hours and 24 minutes.
Respect 🤝@DominikKoepfer tops compatriot and 3x champ (2007, 2012, 2016) Philipp Kohlschreiber 4-6 6-4 6-3 in Munich 🇩🇪#BMWOpen pic.twitter.com/Xcz0kTPTZn
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 27, 2021
Meanwhile on Court 1, wild card entry Yannick Hanfmann booked his place in the second round following a hard-fought 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(5) win over Taro Daniel from Japan, who reached the semi-finals at last week’s Serbia Open in Belgrade. The World No. 98 from Germany broke his opponent’s serve three times to finish the encounter after two hours and 37 minutes. Up next for Hanfmann will be No. 4 seed Filip Krajinovic of Serbia.
In other action, US-American qualifier Mackenzie McDonald knocked out No. 6 seeded Serbian Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 6-4 to meet Ilya Ivashka of Belarus in the next round. Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili defeated Thiago Monteiro of Brazil 6-2, 6-3 and will next play Colombian qualifier Daniel Elahi Galan, who beat #NextGenATP star Sebastian Korda from the United States 6-1, 7-6(7). Pablo Cuevas from Uruguay battled past US-American Tennys Sandgren 7-6(4), 0-6, 6-1 and will take on No. 2 seed Casper Ruud on Wednesday.
