Five out of eight German starters have survived the first round of qualification for Wimbledon. Dustin Brown and Yannick Hanfmann, on the other hand, had to travel home with some surprise.
The biggest surprise from a German point of view was the number 240 of the world Dominik Köpfer. The 24-year-old, who reached his career high of 225th place last March, beat Tatsuma Ito from Japan 6-4, 6-3 and will now meet Austria’s Gerald Melzer, who also won clearly against Nino Serdarusic.
Matthias Bachnger, who beat the Australian Marc Polmans in the decisive third set 8:6, made it exciting. Mats Moraing beat Lloyd Harris 6-4, 6-2, Tobias Kamke also had no problems against Prajnesh Gunneswaran from India and won 6-1, 6-4.
Surprisingly clear, turf specialist Dustin Brown had to admit defeat. The 33-year-old lost to Stefan Kozlov from the USA 3-6, 1-6, Yannick Hanfmann lost to Stephane Robert in two tight sets, Oscar Otte had no chance against Marcel Granollers.
In the late afternoon, Yannick Maden defeated the Ukrainian Ilya Marshenko 4:6, 6:3, 6:4 after a set deficit. The world’s number 134 can now avenge DTB colleague Brown: He’s going to play Kozlov in round two.