There was another surprise at the Hamburg European Open tennis tournament. Russian number two seed Andrey Rublyov lost to Argentine Francisco Cerundolo 4-6, 2-6 in the round of 16 of the clay court tournament and was eliminated.
At the start of the tournament, experts had predicted a final match between Rublyov, who won the European Open two years ago, and the young Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz.
The 19-year-old Iberian also had more trouble than expected in his round of 16 match against Filip Krajinovic from Serbia. But the sixth-ranked player in the world and tournament favourite prevailed 7:6 (7:4), 6:3. In the quarter-finals, he will meet the 26-year-old Russian Karen Khachanov.
Minute of silence for Uwe Seeler
Spectators, athletes and organisers commemorated Hamburg football legend Uwe Seeler with a minute’s silence. A photo from 1986 was played. On it, tennis lover Seeler could be seen in a doubles match at Hamburg’s Rothenbaum with Wimbledon winner Boris Becker at his side. Their opponents in the show match were Becker’s ex-manager Ion Tiriac and comedian Otto Waalkes. Seeler, who has died at the age of 85, was a passionate tennis player.
