Yannick Hanfmann is Alexander Zverev’s opponent at this year’s ATP tournament in Munich. The 26-year-old from Karlsruhe is one of three German players in action at the start of the main draw in Munich and defeated Marcos Baghdatis from Cyprus 6-2 and 6-4 in a commanding manner.
“I’m very pleased. In the end it might have been a bit tight, but on the whole it was a good performance from me today,” said Hanfmann, who did not have to fend off a single break point in his first-round match.
Last year, Hanfmann made his breakthrough on the same spot on the ATP World Tour by reaching the quarter-finals of the sand court tournament endowed with €561,345 as qualifier. This success probably also contributed to the fact that the world rankings 118th could start with a wild card this year.
“I may be a little further ahead than last year, when the tournament was the start of a good summer. Of course, I hope that I can do something similar this year, even though the season so far may not have been so successful”.
Hanfmann, who trains at the TennisBase in Oberhaching, also reached his first final on the ATP World Tour in 2017, which he lost against Fabio Fognini at the Swiss Open in Gstaad. At the end of the year he had his first success on the ATP-Challenger-Tour with a triumph on his own doorstep in Ismaning.
“The goal now is to get into the top 100. I just try to work on my stuff, especially my serve, to get better in the end. However, it won’t be easy, as some points could also go down in the summer. I’ve played many tournaments this season that I haven’t played in the past year and haven’t achieved the results I hoped for with many first-round defeats that have also gnawed at me. “With every match I win now, I hope to get better and regain my rhythm.”
Hanfmann was last on the ATP-Challenger-Tour in Central America, where he celebrated two double victories together with Kevin Krawietz. However, due to the ranking, it was not enough for the two to start together in Munich.
“That’s a bit sad, but I look forward to my double with Bachi (Matthias Bachinger, note) tomorrow. We get along very well, too.”
On Wednesday the singles match continues against no less than Alexander Zverev, the top seeded player this year at MTTC Iphitos.
“I have never played against such a player before,” Hanfmann is looking forward to his first encounter with a top 10 crack.
“This is going to be a special encounter and a great match. As preparation we will watch some of his matches and try to analyse his game. I’ll definitely have to play my best tennis to get him into trouble. However, there are a few things you can see. Sascha stands relatively far behind the baseline and perhaps I will intersperse one or two stops,” Hanfmann let you see at his press conference.
At the center court, immediately after his success against Baghdatis, he gave away another tactic for Wednesday with a wink: “Alexander Zverev is a few years younger than me, I’ll just play out all my experience there!