The draw for the ATP World Tour 250 tournament in Munich has brought the German players quite solvable tasks – only Philipp Kohlschreiber has drawn a tricky opponent.
By Jens Huiber from Munich
Michael Mronz, the organizer of the Bavarian Open Tennis Championships at the MTTC Iphitos, had a very special accessory with him on Friday: the lederhosen, which the winner of the BMW Open will receive, has meanwhile established itself. Now it is time for something new, for which the spectators in Munich often have no use: sunglasses.
Good weather is good news for everyone involved, although Philipp Kohlschreiber may be exempted from this group a little bit. Not because the Augsburg native would not also be a friend of the sun. Rather, the draw has given Kohlschreiber an opponent who is well prepared for faster conditions: Ivo Karlovic, the Methuselah on the individual tour. A short, local downpour on Tuesday would suit the three-time Munich champion Kohlschreiber.
Philipp Kohlschreiber is in sixth place, last year’s winner Alexander Zverev is at the top. He is waiting for the winner of the game between Yannick Hanfmann, who received a wildcard, and Marcos Baghdatis. Florian Mayer will play against a qualifier at his last appearance in Munich – the man from Bayreuth will end his career after the US Open – as will Jan-Lennard Struff and Maximilian Marterer.
The only Austrian in the main field is Andreas Haider-Maurer before the end of the qualification, in which Dennis Novak has already won the first round and Jürgen Melzer will compete later on Saturday. He will start with Mischa Zverev – the winner will then have to deal with either Kohlschreiber or Karlovic.
The last wildcard went to Matthias Bachinger, who will face Mikhail Kukushkin in round one. Until Saturday morning, Patrik Kühnen, head of the tournament, had hoped for Dominic Thiem’s spontaneous acceptance after his retirement in the quarter-finals in Barcelona. However, Austria’s number one decided in favour of a training week instead of a start at the Isar.
Gerald Melzer has left again: Austria’s number two has won a spot in the main draw in Istanbul, on Friday he had just come to Munich – with the intention of participating in the qualification.
Here is the draw from Munich