ATP: Tournament in Stuttgart: Federer trains – three German first round duels

Superstar Roger Federer intervenes in the ATP tournament in Stuttgart only on Wednesday. In the first round of the grass court event, there will be three German duels at Killesberg.

Roger Federer (36) does not expect a long French Open final between Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem on Sunday. At least the Swiss planned his first training session on the lush green Centre Court in Stuttgart at 5 p.m. – “only” two hours after the match started in Paris. Or Federer simply has no desire for Grand Slam tennis on TV.

In his first match after an 80-day tournament break, the 20-time Grand Slam winner will face either Mischa Zverev or a qualifier on Wednesday after a walk-through in the first round. This was the result of the draw, in which defending champions Lucas Pouille (France) and Tommy Haas also participated.

“The first game after a long break is never easy, but Roger will have come to Stuttgart perfectly prepared and highly motivated,” said Haas. According to the tableau, Federer would face Canadian star Denis Shapovalov in the quarter-finals.

In the opening round of the Mercedes Cup, endowed with 729,340 Euro, three German duels will take place on the grounds of the TC Weissenhof. The winner of the comparison between Maximilian Marterer and Peter Gojowczyk in the round of the last 16 will have to deal with Australian Nick Kyrgios, who is seeded fourth.

Routine Florian Mayer challenges Stuttgart local hero Yannick Maden, who has slipped into the main field of 28 thanks to a wild card. The winner of the clash between number five seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber and Uzbek Denis Istomin is waiting for him in the round of 16.

After all, the 17-year-old Rudi Molleker, who also received a wild card and recently triumphed at the Neckar Cup in Heilbronn, will play Jan-Lennard Struff. Should the eleven-year-old Davis Cup player prevail, last year’s second round would see a new round of 16 with Lucas Pouille.

A reminder: Struff already had a match point against Pouille in the tiebreak of the third set in 2017, but thanks to a sensational reflex the Frenchman was able to fend him off with a flying ball. Pouille not only won the match against Struff, but also started the rest of the tournament and won his first ATP tournament on grass thanks to a final victory over Feliciano Lopez from Spain.