Koepfer in round 2 after thriller
Successful start for Dominik Koepfer at the BOSS OPEN. After fending off two match points, he prevailed against the strong Chinese player Zhizhen Zhang in three thrilling sets. Yannick Hanfmann wins Geman duel with Squire.
In the first set, Koepfer and Zhang slowly got to grips with their grass court form. Both had to surrender their serve, but the Chinese player managed a second break and the set was over. Neither player allowed a break chance in the second set, the logical consequence being a tie-break in which Koepfer came out on top 7-5. The third set was as exciting as it gets. Both players managed to break their opponent's serve once each. Once again, the match had to be decided in a tie-break. Koepfer saved two match points at 4-6 and converted his first match point to win 4-6, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6).
“The first match on grass is not easy,” said Kopefer during the winner's press conference. “Especially against Spierl, who serves well and also returned well today.” Koepfer identified the decisive moments in the tie-breaks: “He got nervous on one or two points and made double faults. But that can happen to anyone." The winner of the match between Lorenzo Musetti (ITA) and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (FRA), which is scheduled for Tuesday, awaits in the round of 16. “The match won't be any easier, but anything is possible on grass,” said Koepfer optimistically.
Hanfmann also in round 2
Yannick Hanfmann had much less trouble. The 32-year-old from Karlsruhe, currently ranked number 91 in the world, beat his compatriot Henri Squire, who is ranked around 90 places lower in the world rankings, 6-3, 6-3.
In the first match of the day, British number 6 seed Jack Draper defeated Austrian Sebastian Ofner 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5) in another tie-break thriller.
In the last match of the day, Next Gen ATP Finals 2023 winner Hamad Medjedovic (SRB/ATP 131), who was in the main draw with a wild card, surprised Hungary's Fabian Marozsan, who is ranked almost 100 places higher. The first set went to the favored Hungarian in a tiebreak, after which the 20-year-old Serb showed his great talent and finally prevailed 6:7 (3), 6:1, 6:4.