MALLORCA/STARNBERG, June 20, 2021
Main draw action at the inaugural Mallorca Championships kicked off on Sunday. Jordan Thompson from Australia came back from a set down to overcome Pablo Andujar of Spain 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-2.
The World No. 81, who reached his lone ATP Tour final on grass in 2019 ‘s-Hertogenbosch, fired 14 aces and won 74 per cent of his first-service points to secure victory in two hours and 25 minutes. Thompson will next take on either Slovakian qualifier Lukas Klein or Dusan Lajovic of Serbia.
Mannarino sets Thiem clash
2019 ‘s-Hertogenbosch champion Adrian Mannarino opened his Mallorca campaign with a 7-6(3), 6-3 win over Jan-Lennard Struff from Germany. The 32-year-old French saved all four break points he faced and converted his only break-point chance in the second set to prevail after one hour and 23 minutes.
How on earth did that make it over the net 🤭@AdrianMannarino with a ridiculous tweener in Mallorca. #ATPMallorca pic.twitter.com/EcdV3c19hQ
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 20, 2021
Mannarino awaits No. 2 seed Dominic Thiem in the second round, who fell in his opening match at the French Open to Pablo Andujar.
“Straight after Roland Garros I was going back on a practice court for almost two weeks on a hard court, still at home, just to fix my shots again, because they were not as they should be in the clay-court season,” said Thiem during the tournament’s virtual media day.
“Now I feel well again with my shots, with my footwork. I practised two days in Austria on grass courts and already four days in Mallorca and I feel pretty well. But on grass, you never know what is going to happen. The most important for me was to fix my shots, to improve my footwork, to move well again on the court and that’s what I did in Austria.”
Thiem won all of the eight previous meetings with Mannarino. It will be the pair’s first match on grass.
“I was here five years ago. I did the coin toss for a WTA final and played an exhibition. Already back then the club was super nice,” Thiem said. “Three years ago I was on holiday here. Two or three months ago I spent one week here, so I really love it. The weather is perfect, the weather is nice. The most important is the grass courts are super good.”
Leaving his mark on the #ATPMallorca@ThiemDomi | @atptour pic.twitter.com/IKytIRZ9wC
— Mallorca Championships (@MallorcaChamps) June 20, 2021
“Grand Opening Event” on Friday
The first ATP Tour tournament in Mallorca since 2002 and also the first one hosted on grass in Spain celebrated a “Grand Opening Event” on Friday at the Mallorca Country Club. Former World No. 2 Tommy Haas of Germany and Croatia’s tennis legend Goran Ivanisevic, who celebrated the greatest triumph of his career exactly 20 years ago by winning The Championships at Wimbledon, inaugurated the new Center Court under floodlights in an entertaining exhibition match. Haas won the match played in one set 6-3.
Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp and Mario Götze, who scored the only goal in the 2014 World Cup final against Argentina giving Germany their fourth title, as well as actor and tennis fan Mark Keller attended the event.
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