Daniel Altmaier grabs Hamburg wild card, joining Zverev, Thiem and Fognini
The last ATP 500 clay-court tournament of the season takes place at the German Open in Hamburg, standing as one of the oldest tennis tournaments in the world, established in 1892! The event had become a part of the Open era right in 1968, with John Newcombe as the first winner, and until 1989 it had been won by the names like Tony Roche, Manuel Orantes, Guillermo Vilas, and Ivan Lendl. In 1990, Hamburg joined the newly-formed ATP Super 9 Series where it stayed for the next 19 years, with Roger Federer as the most successful player with four tiles.
From 2009, Hamburg had to take a step back and join the ATP 500 category where it stayed ever since, seeking the best possible field a the moment when the players from the top already think about the upcoming hard-court swing. Dominic Thiem, Fabio Fognini and the defending champion Nikoloz Basilashvili were the initial leaders of the pack, joined by Alexander Zverev who has decided to take a wild card after an early Wimbledon exit. His brother Mischa took another wild card, together with Rudolf Molleker, and the last invitation has gone to the 20-year-old Daniel Altmaier, currently ranked 437th.
Altmaier has won six Futures titles from 14 finals and is yet to find the form on the upper levels, claiming 13 wins on the Challenger Tour and playing in one final in Burnie at the beginning of 2018, never reaching the quarter-final before. Two years ago, Daniel entered the main draw at the ATP 250 event in Antalya as a lucky loser, using a favorable draw to score two hard-fought wins and advance into the quarter-final where he won just three games against Yuichi Sugita. A month later, Daniel had the opportunity to make a debut in Hamburg, losing to Horacio Zeballos in the opening round in two tight sets, hoping for a better run next week with a certain amount of luck in the draw.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Y0wCfb
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