Tsitsipas toppled by German Hanfmann in Mallorca

Stefanos Tsitsipas heads to Wimbledon with a 1-3 record on the grass after losing his opening match in Mallorca 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 to German outsider Yannick Hanfmann on Wednesday.

The Greek who tasted his only grass success last week with a first-round Halle win which required two tiebreak sets, handed Hanfmann the biggest win of his career.

“A lot of things have to work to beat a Top 10 player,” the winner said after taming the ATP No. 5.

“I think I had a really good start. Maybe Stefanos was a little bit rusty in the conditions.

“With the wind and the grass it was not that easy, so maybe having a match already on the first day was really important.

“I served really well in all three sets. Just that one service game with two double faults, but overall I’m really happy with my performance.”

Hanfmann improved to 16-9 on the season.

He next faces retiring home hero Feliciano Lopez, who is determined to excel in what he says is his final ATP tournament at age 41.

Lopez reached the last eight 7-6(6), 1-6, 6-3 oer Australian Jordan Thompson; The Spaniard is the oldest ATP quarter-finalist since Jimmy Connors in Halle aged 42 in 1995.

Bill Scott

Recent Posts

Underdogs GB pull off BJK win over Australia

Team GB pulled off  a 3–1 victory over Australia in the Billie Jean King Cup…

4 days ago

Superb Sinner drops Alcaraz to return to ATP No. 1

Jannik Sinner will take back the No. 1 ranking on Monday after winning his fourth…

6 days ago

Djoko dropping hints that career has short shelf life

Novak Djokovic has been making it plain that the end of his career is approaching,…

6 days ago

Sinner, Alcaraz set title clash on Monte Carlo clay

Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz fulfilled expectations on Saturday as the top pair in the…

7 days ago

Sinner can do no wrong against Zverev

Jannik Sinner put pure power on display Saturday as the Italian reached his first Monte Carlo…

7 days ago

300th win sends Alcaraz into Monte Carlo final four

Carlos Alcaraz earned the 300th win of his ATP career as the Spaniard rolled 6-3,…

1 week ago