After a successful first edition of the Koblenz Open last year, this week’s ATP-Challenger Tour has returned to the Upper Middle Rhine Valley for another stopover. Kenny de Schepper from France and Mats Moraing are the finalists in the singles.
Moraing took advantage of the loud support of the approximately 1,600 spectators in the crowded CGM arena on Saturday afternoon. The 25-year-old from Mühlheim an der Ruhr fired 16 aces, defended both break points against himself and turned three of his own chances into a 6:4,6:3 victory after one hour and 12 minutes of play.
“I served very well today and always fought in tight situations,” said Moraing, satisfied with his performance.
The number 205 in the ATP world ranking also came to Koblenz with an enormous portion of self-confidence. At his first two appearances at the Bangkok Open in the new year, Moraing reached at least the semi-finals. At his first tournament in Thailand, he was only barely beaten by the Spaniard Marcel Granollers.
It was a bit difficult in the first round,”said Moraing,” but he sent his “secret recipe” immediately afterwards.”It’s always important to be in a good mood,” revealed the left-handed man.”Now I’m a bit in the flow, but it won’t get any easier.”
However, Moraing will continue to rely on the support of the audience.
“This is great fun to play here. The atmosphere is great and I’m looking forward to the final.”
Moraing meets Kenny de Schepper, who fought his way to the final with a 3:6,7:5,6:4 against the Belarusian Ilya Ivashka. The Frenchman, who was seeded on sixth position, found the necessary aggressiveness in the second set to turn a fun match between two attacking players. After one hour and 41 minutes, De Schepper was finally able to cheer.
“After the start in Australia, it was not easy to get used to the conditions here,” says De Schepper, who began his tennis season with a semi-final draw at the ATP-Challenger tournament in Nouméa, New Caledonia, on the other side of the world. After a first round defeat in the qualification of the Australian Open and more than 10 hours of flying time, the Frenchman was back on the field.
“You usually need two or three nights to get back to your normal rhythm,” says de Schepper.
With victories over Teymuraz Gabashvili, local hero Benjamin Hassan and Alexey Vatutin, number 154 from the world of travel fought its way through to the final round of the tournament. The curious thing about it: In all his encounters he had to come back from a setback.
“That’s special,” grins the 30-year-old who has already won five ATP-Challenger titles in his career. A win on Sunday would be his first triumph on the tour since the clay court tournament in Como two years ago.
After a successful meeting for Moraing at a league match, de Schepper and the German will face each other on tour for the first time.
In the doubles final the two top-seeded pairings will meet. Sander Arends from the Netherlands and the Croatian Antonio Sancic will be dealing with the Austrian Tristan-Samuel Weissborn and Romain Arneodo from Monaco.