ECKENTAL, October 29, 2019

The 23rd edition of the Challenger Eckental is the third and final stop of a three-week ATP Challenger indoor swing on German soil and two local favourites headlined Monday’s first-round action at the House of Sports.

Tobias Kamke defeated Mischa Zverev 7-6(4), 6-1. The 33-year-old Hamburg resident converted three of his six break point chances to advance in one hour and 26 minutes. Kamke will next take on No. 7 seed Jiri Vesely from the Czech Republic.

2016 champion Steve Darcis opened his Eckental campaign with a 7-5, 7-6(4) victory over Briton James Ward. The 35-year-old from Belgium struck 10 aces and won 87 per cent of his first-service points to prevail after one hour and 23 minutes. Up next for Darcis will be No. 13 seed Federico Gaio of Italy.

World No. 90 Kamil Majchrzak from Poland, top seed of the €46,600 International German Indoor Championships, will start his title bid on Wednesday against Marc-Andrea Huesler. The 23-year-old Swiss fought past Mirza Basic from Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) after almost two hours of play.

Second seed Henri Laaksonen from Switzerland will face either German wild card entry Niklas Guttau or US-American Maxime Cressy in the second round.

For more information and tickets, please visit the tournament’s official homepage.