A feat of strength with very strong nerves: Hanfmann strangely stumbles into the net and wins

A feat of strength with very strong nerves
Hanfmann strangely stumbles into the net and wins

Four German tennis professionals are in the second round of the French Open. After a trio around Alexander Zverev, Yannick Hanfmann also progressed. Actually, he was already out in Paris. Against the Brazilian Thiago Monteiro he shows an impressive willpower.

After Alexander Zverev and Daniel Altmaier, Yannick Hanfmann reached the second round at the French Open in a five-sentence thriller. The 31-year-old from Karlsruhe defeated the Brazilian Thiago Monteiro with a very strong fighting performance 6: 3, 7: 5, 6: 7 (6: 8), 6: 7 (2: 7), 6: 4. “I will never forget this day,” he said after midnight. “I’m extremely proud of that.”

Towards the end of the third set, he suffered a moment of shock when he stumbled into the net and fell onto his opponent’s side. A little later, Hanfmann gave up his serve for the first time in the match, missed a match point and lost the round in a tie-break. In the fifth set he came back from a 1:4 deficit and converted his second match point after 4:56 hours. Hanfmann, number 65 in the world, had already failed to qualify for the French Open, but benefited from the cancellation of an opponent.

Hanfmann, who is hard of hearing from birth, is only in the top 64 in a Grand Slam tournament for the second time in his career. It’s a premiere for him in the clay court classic. In the second round he faces Francisco Cerundolo, the Argentinean is in 23rd place. Before Roland Garros, Hanfmann drew attention to himself by reaching the quarterfinals and winning against two top ten players at the Masters 1000 tournament in Rome. “I think I’m riding a small wave,” he said. “I hope to ride her as far as possible.”

Medvedev puts a tick on it

Meanwhile, Daniil Medvedev can also gain something positive from his surprising first-round defeat against the Brazilian qualifier Thiago Seyboth Wild at the French Open. “I’m always happy when the clay court season is over. So today, too,” said Medvedev after his five-set defeat in Paris.

“I had my mouth full of sand since the third game of the match,” said the 27-year-old, who, despite his tournament victory at the Masters in Rome, does not like the cinder surface at all. “I don’t know if people like to eat sand and have sand in their pockets, in their shoes and on their white socks. I don’t like it anyway.” Despite his aversion, Medvedev was considered one of the favorites for the title at Roland Garros. He has already celebrated five tournament wins this season and fought his way up to second place in the world rankings.

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