Altmaier also impresses in Monte Carlo in his second game. Now he faces Carlos Alcaraz, who is ranked third in the world.
As the last remaining German professional tennis player, Daniel Altmaier has reached the round of 16 at the ATP Masters in Monte Carlo.
One day after Alexander Zverev was knocked out, the 26-year-old from Kempen, who fought his way into the main draw via the qualification, defeated the Frenchman Richard Gasquet 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 in the second round.
At the clay court tournament on the Côte d’Azur, which is worth almost seven million dollars, he will now face off against Spanish top star Carlos Alcaraz.
Altmaier takes his first chance to win
In the first round, Altmaier surprisingly knocked out 16th-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in two sets, and on Wednesday the world no. 84 was still in good form. He made clinical use of his only break chance in the first set.
In the second round, the 38-year-old Frenchman successfully defended himself with the vocal support of the audience, but in the third set he ran out of strength – and Altmaier took his first match point after about two and a half hours to win.
After the loss of the top-seeded Zverev, who is desperately seeking his form and lost to Matteo Berrettini (Italy) in his opening match, only Altmaier is still playing in the principality from a German perspective. Jan-Lennard Struff had already been eliminated on Sunday by Valentin Vacherot (Monaco).