KOBLENZ/STARNBERG, January 31, 2025
Germany’s final singles contender at the Koblenz Open 2025 has been eliminated. Henri Squire suffered a heartbreaking defeat on Friday night, falling to Italy’s Giulio Zeppieri in the Match of the Day on Center Court, 6-4, 6-7(7), 3-6.
Squire started strongly, dominating for the first set and a half. However, the 24-year-old from Duisburg was unable to close out the match against the resilient left-hander. He even held a match point at 7-6 in the second-set tiebreak on his own serve, but Zeppieri fended it off and took control from there. The Italian stepped up his level and proved to be the better player in the final set, completing his comeback victory.
Lucky loser Jakub Paul remains the surprise of the tournament, extending his dream run in Koblenz. With a passionate “Come on!”, the 25-year-old Swiss secured his first-ever ATP Challenger Tour semi-final berth on Friday.
Paul battled for nearly two hours to overcome Alexey Vatutin, eventually converting his second match point. “I’m just overjoyed and don’t even know what to say,” he admitted in his on-court interview after the match.
The second quarterfinal of the day saw an all-French battle between Ugo Blanchet and Matteo Martineau, stretching over two hours and 33 minutes. Both players refused to give an inch, leading to a dramatic third-set tie-break.
Blanchet gained an early mini-break and never looked back, winning the tie-break and the match 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-6(1) in dominant fashion. “I’m obviously happy with the win, but also a bit sad for Matteo—he’s a really good friend of mine,” said the World No. 226. Blanchet will now face Paul.
Tournament favorite Luca Nardi also booked his spot in the stage of the final four. The 21-year-old Italian faced a tough challenge from Swiss qualifier Mika Brunold, but eventually won 6-4, 7-5 in one hour and 33 minutes.
Semi-finals ✅
Luca Nardi moves past Brunold 6-4 7-5 to advance in Koblenz#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/xJAYmVd2Gy
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) January 31, 2025
Just hours after his singles quarterfinal, Paul was back on court for the doubles semi-final alongside Dutch partner David Pel. The duo secured their place in the final by defeating Denys Molchanov and Michael Vrbensky.
They will now face the British-French team of Geoffrey Blancaneaux and Joshua Paris, who ended the impressive run of German wild card entries Tim Rühl and Patrick Zahraj.
