Of the eight German men at Rothenbaum, only two survived the first qualifying round: Daniel Masur (Buckeberg) and Maximilian Marterer (Nuremberg) made it to the main field on Sunday.
In front of DTB team boss Michael Kohlman, Daniel Masur was in top form and stumbled in three sets (2:6, 6:4, 6:3) against Serbian Danilo Petrovic to win. After the game, he joked with friends on the sidelines and regained strength before the next match against top seed Carlos Taberner (Spain).
Molecker fails Bezo
Maximilian Marterer also needed three sets (5:7, 6:2, 6:3) against Bosnian Damir Jumhur. Marterer, who was still in round 16 of the 2018 French Open, will play against Alessandro Gianci (Italy) for a place in the main field on Sunday. Rothenbaum’s former shooting star Rudy Molecker (Oranienberg) was less confident. If in recent years Hamburg’s red ashes have always given him unimaginable strength, a 5-7, 2-6 loss against Sebastian Baez (Argentina).
Very little for the once announced Zverev successor. Niklas Guttau (Lübeck), Matt Rosenkranz (Essen) and Levi Lane (Suchsdorf) also suffered clear slips. Particularly bitter: Oscar Otte (Cologne) was up against former world number one Andy Murray in the second round on Wimbledon’s center court last week and now used a 4:6, 4:6 against Steven Diez (Canada) experienced the day. The men’s main ground at Rothenbaum begins Monday.