AUGSBURG, August 28, 2026
The Schwaben Open by Great2Stay 2026 are heading into the final stretch. On Friday, the singles and doubles semifinals were played at TC Augsburg in rainy conditions. Argentina’s Facundo Mena, outlasted the last German standing in the €56,700 ATP Challenger 50 event, Benito Sanchez Martinez, and Romania’s Cezar Cretu eliminated Sandro Kopp from Austria.
Mena survives match-point thriller against Sanchez-Martinez
Benito Sanchez-Martinez (ATP No. 1244) opened the semifinal day on Centre Court. The 24-year-old qualifier from Berlin was aiming to keep the German flag flying, with his 33-year-old Argentine opponent Facundo Mena (ATP No. 345) having already defeated three German players on his way to the semifinals: Munich’s Max Rehberg, Berlin’s Kai Wehnelt and Bückeburg’s Daniel Masur.
Once again, Mena proved to be an extremely awkward opponent. He made his presence felt immediately on return, creating the first two break-point opportunities of the match. However, the 24-year-old Sanchez-Martinez stayed in the contest with powerful serving and courageous shot-making before making his first real impact on Mena’s serve at 5-4.
In a marathon service game, the former college player from the Mississippi State University fought his way to several set points and converted his fifth opportunity to take the opener. With the momentum on his side, the qualifier continued to dictate play before rain interrupted the match at 2-2 for around 30 minutes.
The break appeared to benefit Mena, who returned to the court strongly and immediately secured the first break of the second set before serving it out comfortably to level the match.
Sanchez Martinez rediscovered his direct and aggressive game in the deciding set and continued to challenge the Argentine clay-court specialist. Neither player could convert two break-point opportunities, meaning the match had to be decided by a tiebreak.
Sanchez Martinez initially struggled, dropping both of his first two service points to fall 1-4 behind. But Mena also began to feel the pressure, allowing the German to fight his way back into the contest. At 6-5, Sanchez-Martinez earned a match point, but could not convert it in the longest rally of the match. Two points later, Mena had completed his comeback, winning 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(6).
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In his on-court interview, the delighted winner reflected on a dramatic finish: “It was a very exciting match with some great rallies. Both players were a little bit nervous in the decisive tiebreak and struggled on serve. On Benito’s match point, I put everything into the rally and fought until the very end. That allowed me to turn the match around and I’m obviously incredibly happy to reach my first Challenger final of the year.”
With a smile, he added: “Although I won’t have a German opponent in the final, I’m really excited that, just like over the past few days, my last match of the tournament will be on this fantastic Centre Court.”
Cretu keeps Kopp under control
Following another rain delay, No. 8 seed Sandro Kopp (ATP No. 292) took on fifth favourite Cezar Cretu (ATP No. 289) in the second semifinal. The 25-year-old Romanian had to fend off an early break opportunity in Kopp’s opening service game, but the 26-year-old Austrian soon found his rhythm behind his own serve.
At 4-3, however, Cretu produced a spectacular smash to create another break point and this time made no mistake. The No. 5 seed showed some nerves while serving for the set, but eventually converted his eighth set point to take the opener.
Both players continued to look for quick points behind strong serves and powerful forehands in the second set. Once again, Cretu managed to create several break opportunities, and on his sixth chance he finally took Kopp’s serve to gain a decisive advantage.
When the rain returned, the Austrian’s resistance finally began to fade. Cretu closed out the match without losing a point on his own serve, sealing a 6-3, 7-5 victory after one hour and 39 minutes and securing his place in the Schwaben Open final.
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In Saturday’s doubles final, No. 4 seeds Dominik Recek and Daniel Siniakov from the Czech Republic will take on Juan Manuel La Serna of Argentina and Brazilian Eduardo Ribeiro. Matches will start at 11 am local time.
