ISMANING, October 18, 2019 (by Dietmar Kaspar)
Tennis action at the Wolffkran Open in Ismaning continued with the quarterfinals headlined by the win of Jiri Vesely. The top seed of the €69,280 ATP Challenger event opened Friday’s Centre Court action.
The 26-year-old Czech, who clinched the boys’ trophy at the Australian Open 2011 and was ranked ITF No. 1 as a junior, battled past Spanish No. 10 seed Adrian Menendez-Maceiras. Vesely, who reached a career high at World No. 35 in 2015, fired 19 aces to seal a 7-6(4), 6-2 victory after one hour and 38 minutes. Under the watchful eyes of his wife and his seven-month-old daughter, Vesely converted three of his five break-point chances and saved all three break points he faced with his powerful serve.
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“I think the first set decided the match,” Vesely told Tennis TourTalk. “We both stayed solid on serve and did not have many chances to get a break. He played very flat, so it was very difficult to pass him. But I stayed focused and was lucky to win the tiebreak. In the second set, I was able to take more risk and got the early break. Then I stayed concentrated to finish the match.”
Asked about playing in Ismaning, the World No. 120 said: ”As I grew up in Germany, it is always wonderful for me to come back with all the memories of my childhood. It’s not easy to play on the carpet but I don’t want to complain. It is pretty similar to grass and I like to play on this surface.”
The multiple team-member of the Czech Davis-Cup team will face Maxime Cressy in the stage of the final four. The 22-year-old US-American, who entered the competition on position 12, knocked off German No. 15 seed Daniel Masur. Cressy capitalized on two of his nine break-point chances and didn’t drop a service game to prevailed 6-3, 6-4 after 64 minutes. The current World No. 214, who competed in the qualifying of this year’s US Open, won 89 per cent of his first-service points.
“Daniel played well during the whole match. There were just very little details that decided the match,” Cressy said. “He was very solid on his serve, not missing any ball with his forehand. But I accepted it and moved on point by point to get the win.”
Get to know Maxime Cressy 🇺🇸 who continues his good run of form at the @ATPChallenger in Ismaning this week. pic.twitter.com/q3A40do13C
— TennisTourTalk (@TennisTourTalk) October 18, 2019
Lenz advances
Of special interest for the home crowd was the all-German clash between Johannes Haerteis and qualifier Julian Lenz. 23-year-old Haerteis, who defeated the currently hottest player on the ATP Tour Daniil Medvedev at the ITF-Futures tournament in Ismaning 2015, had to retire due to abdominal injury in the second set. Giessen native Lenz, who is ranked World No. 259, won 93 per cent of his first-service points to advance by the score of 6-1, 4-2 after 43 minutes.
“It’s a pity, that the match was stopped by the retirement of Johannes. But I think I played really well. I put a lot of varitey in my serves and made good returns. My match plan worked out perfectly,” said Lenz, who signed a contract with Grün-Weiß Mannheim to represent the team in the German Tennis Bundesliga next year.
Lacko prevails in the battle of the veterans
The tournament’s No. 16 Lukas Lacko had to compete versus Teymuraz Gabashvili, who is representing Russia. The 31-year-old Slovakian came back from a set down to advance 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. The encounter lasted one hour and 54 minutes. The No. 239 of the World, who was reached a career high at World No. 44 in 2013, outpointed his 34-year-old rival 98-92.
“It was a completely different match compared to yesterday. We both have a pretty similar game style, trying to attack after a good serve and avoid to defend. In the first set he was the better player in crucial moments, breaking my serve at the score of 5-6. Afterwards, I managed to make a break in each set and held my serve. I showed by best serving games of the year in the third set,” Lacko told Tennis TourTalk.
Lacko, who clinched 12 career titles on the ATP Challenger Tour, will next take on Lenz in Saturday’s semi-final.
