Friday, October 02, 2020
Two German men make it into the third round of the French Open. You could count on Alexander Zverev. But Daniel Altmaier? That comes as a surprise. After all, the 22-year-old’s career was almost over. There is also a surprise in the second German duel.
Third round in a Grand Slam tournament – many experts had given Daniel Altmaier credit for that much earlier. At the age of 17 or 18, the man from Kempen was already considered one of the greatest talents in German tennis, and together with Rudi Molleker, the future should belong to him. But then Altmaier was stopped by his own body. A mixture of abdominal muscle pain and shoulder problems forced him to take a nearly year-long hiatus in 2018. In the world rankings, he fell out of the top 400 before returning to the tour at the beginning of last year.
Since then Altmaier has been fighting his way back bit by bit, making it to 186th place. The collaboration with his Argentine trainer Francisco Yunis is bearing more and more fruit. “I have a lot of confidence in Daniel. The overall package seems to be right for him at the moment,” said national coach Michael Kohlmann last week on the sidelines of the tournament in Hamburg, when Altmaier was still tormenting his way through the mills of qualification in Paris.
“Extreme conditions again”
In the run-up to the French Open, Altmaier had already gained a lot of match practice on clay on the Challenger Tour. Experience that now helps him cause a sensation in Paris. The 22-year-old won the German second-round duel against Jan-Lennard Struff at the Stade Roland Garros with a surprisingly clear 6: 3, 7: 6 (7: 4), 6: 3 and thus followed on his Grand Slam debut in the US Open finalist Alexander Zverev in the third round.
In the women’s category, Laura Siegemund won the German duel against Julia Görges 1: 6, 6: 1, 6: 3 and is now in round three in Paris for the first time. “The conditions were again extreme. It really depends on being flexible and adapting to the new circumstances every day,” said Siegemund, who will meet Petra Martic from Croatia on Saturday.
The doubles Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies are also still on the road to success. The defending champions clearly prevailed against the two Argentinians Diego Schwartzman and Federico Coria 6: 2, 6: 0 and are in the round of 16.
“I like that he remains humble”
“I am of course very satisfied with how it went today,” said Altmaier with a small portion of euphoria in his voice. “When I play my game together, I know that I can keep up and dominate players like Struff,” said Altmaier. Tennis legend Boris Becker liked the way Altmaier dealt with the greatest success of his career to date. “I like that he remains humble,” said the three-time Wimbledon winner at Eurosport.
The outsider showed a courageous and almost flawless performance against the German number two. While Struff seemed a bit inhibited, Altmaier played carefree. After 40 minutes, he secured the first set against Struff, for which he had acted as a hitting partner at the age of 14. In the second round, Struff seemed to find a better place in the game. The Warsteiner made an early break and now had the game under control. But when he served the set at 5: 4, he gave up his service himself and lost the set in the tiebreak.
“Knew it was going to be a mental battle”
Now Altmaier was unstoppable. Fear of defeat? Not a trace. “It’s a big stage, it’s a Grand Slam tournament, it’s about a lot of money and a lot of points. But I just tried to ignore it,” said Altmaier, who had never played a three-win match before Paris Had denied sentences in a remarkably serene manner.
Off the pitch, the North Rhine-Westphalian appears very analytical and calm. On the court, Altmaier was hot from the first minute. “I knew that it would be a mental battle today,” said Altmaier, who pulled the tooth out of Struff with his power and dominance. Because the third round is now on Saturday against the number seven seeded Italian Matteo Berrettini, a journalist from Italy suddenly became interested in the unknown German. Altmaier was asked what his strengths were. “Just watch a few videos with highlights from my games,” said Altmaier. “I am a machine.”
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