Daniel Altmaier is hoping for a second-round coup like last year, but first he gets a lesson. He improves, but misses the third round. Many other matches are cancelled due to rain.
Daniel Altmaier was protected from the rain on the covered Suzanne Lenglen Court, but not from the stormy play of his opponent Stefanos Tsitsipas. “It was quite a storm,” said the German tennis pro about the class difference at the start of his second-round match at the French Open against the ninth-seeded Greek.
Altmaier did find his rhythm again and was able to annoy the favorite a little, but after 2:43 hours he was eliminated from the Grand Slam tournament on clay in Paris with a 3:6, 2:6, 7:6 (7:2), 4:6. “I don’t regret anything,” said the 25-year-old Altmaier afterwards: “It was a good lesson for me.”
Last year, the professional from Kempen managed a surprise coup in five sets in the second round against Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner, also on Court Suzanne Lenglen. This time, it initially looked more like a lesson. Three days after his five-hour opening match against Serbian Laslo Djere, Altmaier initially lacked almost everything to threaten Tsitsipas. The 2021 French Open finalist dominated with precise groundstrokes and a lot of wit.
Altmaier better in the game from the third set
After a short break, Altmaier returned to the court in the third set as if he had been transformed. He played with significantly more pressure and risk – and was rewarded with the set win in the tiebreak. In the fourth set, he was also on a par with Tsitsipas, who is back in a relationship with the Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa after a short break.
As in the past few days, the rain once again caused the organizers great concern. The matches on the uncovered courts at the Stade Roland Garros were interrupted early, and in the early evening all matches scheduled there were canceled. This also affected the second round matches of the German Maximilian Marterer against the Belgian Zizou Bergs and Henri Squire against the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime.
On the covered Philippe Chatrier court, Carlos Alcaraz was the first big tournament favorite to make it to the third round with some difficulty. The 21-year-old beat Dutch qualifier Jesper de Jong 6:3, 6:4, 2:6, 6:2.
Zverev will face Goffin on Thursday
On Thursday, tournament co-favorite Alexander Zverev will also be back in action. Three days after his emotional opening victory against Spanish record champion Rafael Nadal, the Hamburg native will face a much less spectacular but no less dangerous match. Zverev admitted that he had “had difficulties over the years” with second-round opponent David Goffin. The Belgian is “another great player. Of course, completely different from Rafa,” said the world number four, who is practically facing a fresh start. He approached the highlight against Nadal “like a final,” “now I feel like a new tournament is starting.”
In addition to Zverev, Jan-Lennard Struff also has a realistic chance of reaching the second week of the tournament. The 34-year-old was able to conserve energy in his easy opening win on Tuesday against the Argentinian qualifier Román Andrés Burruchaga, which he will probably need against his next opponent: The Kazakh Alexander Bublik, seeded 19th, is a “very special player” who has recently “improved incredibly,” said Struff. The Warsteiner also emphasized, however: “I know that I can be dangerous to some people with my game.”
Source: Stern
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