BRAUNSCHWEIG, July 11, 2018
Six German players advanced to the second round of the Sparkassen Open led by Braunschweig’s No. 7 seed Yannick Hanfmann. The 26-year-old Karlsruhe native eased past defending champion Nicola Kuhn of Spain 6-1, 6-3 on Tuesday.
Hanfmann was in command of the encounter, winning 62 per cent of the total points played to seal victory in just under one hour of play. “This has been a good start into the tournament,” Hanfmann was pleased with his performance. “I have never made it past the second round here. I would like to change this this year.”
Dustin Brown (photo: Susanne Hübner)
Next up for Hanfmann will be compatriot Dustin Brown, who edged out Viktor Galovic of Croatia 6-3, 7-6(2).
Kuhn has recently joined forces with his new coach Ivan Navarro, a former Spanish serve and volley specialist. The 18-year-old lifted his maiden ATP Challenger trophy here last year, but has only played one match since April due to a broken toe injury. Kuhn, currently ranked World No. 230, entered the draw with a wild card.
Yannick Maden defeated two time Braunschweig champion Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil. The 28-year-old German capitalized on four of his eight break point opportunities to prevail after one hour and 27 minutes. Maden will next face No. 2 seed Roberto Carballés-Baena of Spain.
Marvin Netuschil, who earned his first main draw match win at ATP Challenger level on Monday, will challenge top seed Pablo Cuevas in the second round. The World No. 76 from Uruguay opened his title bid with a 6-3, 7-6(4) victory over French qualifier Maxime Janvier.
