Tennis pro Dominik Koepfer delivers an exciting round of 16 at the grass court tournament in Stuttgart. Two points separate him from victory. Yannick Hanfmann then also loses out
Davis Cup player Dominik Koepfer missed out on a place in the quarter-finals of the grass tennis tournament in Stuttgart. The 30-year-old lost to the fifth seeded Italian Lorenzo Musetti narrowly in three sets 7:6 (11:9), 6:7 (5:7), 3:6. Yannick Hanfmann was then also eliminated. The player from Weinheim lost 5:7 and 6:7 (5:7) to the fourth seeded American Frances Tiafoe.
In an exciting and entertaining round of 16 match against the favored Italian, the 65th-ranked player in the world nevertheless impressed both with his play and his fast legs. Koepfer also kept his nerve when the first set could have gone to Musetti with a total of five chances. In the second tie-break, Koepfer was then just two points away from victory and thus from reaching his first ATP quarter-final on grass.
After two sets without losing serve, there were three breaks in the deciding set. Koepfer made up for a 1:3 immediately, but then lost his service game again at 3:5. “Bitter,” commented the man from the Black Forest, still dissatisfied on the court. “Stupidly broken and then it’s just not enough.”
The tennis pros are preparing for Wimbledon (July 1 – 14) at the event on the Weissenhof. Hanfmann and Jan-Lennard Struff also made it through to the round of 16. Last year’s finalist Struff will not play again until Thursday. German number one Alexander Zverev canceled his participation in the tournament, which has prize money of 812,235 euros, after losing the French Open final
