ATP Challenger: Yannick Hanfmann in the final of Braunschweig

Yannick Hanfmann and the Slovak Jozef Kovalik reach the final of the Sparkassen Open in Braunschweig. The number 7 seeded German defeated Andrea Arnaboldi from Italy in two sets. Kovalik clinched a commanding victory over Arthur de Greef of Belgium.

Visibly relieved, Yannick Hanfmann stepped up to the microphone for the obligatory winner’s interview on the court. “I was pretty nervous today. That was mentally not quite easy,” revealed Hanfmann. “I’m looking forward to playing another match here tomorrow.”

The foundation for this was a 6-4, 6-2 success over Andrea Arnaboldi. No matter what the 30-year-old from Milan tried, Hanfmann always seemed to have the right answer. Once the German lost his serve in the second set, but immediately regained it by a re-break. Altogether a sovereign appearance of the native Karlsruhers, which trains at the tennis base in Oberhaching.

“Nice when it looks that way,” hemp man smiled with a bit of distance from the match. “Andrea’s not just any gambler, either. You have to stay calm and keep a cool head in the decisive situations. That’s the key to success.”

Even before Braunschweig, the world’s number 111 was doing very well. During his two-week stay in Kazakhstan, Hanfmann celebrated his second ATP-Challenger title in Shymkent. Last year he already triumphed in Ismaning.

“I have nothing bad to say about the tournaments there. Good places, good organization,” says Hanfmann about his experiences in Central Asia. “We were already there for a tournament last year and we always have a lot of fun. You’re just out with your troupe, there’s not much hustle and bustle around, so you can concentrate on your tennis.”

In the final on Saturday in Braunschweig it will probably look a little different. About 1,500 spectators are expected for the final and Hanfmann can sign up for the 25th anniversary of the tournament on a respectable list of winners, where the names Alberto Berasategui, Tomas Berdych or Alexander Zverev already appear.

Jozef Kovalik is another player in Hanfmann’s path who has not yet given a set in Braunschweig this week. In the semi-final duel with Arthur de Greef, too, after two rounds and a 6-2, 6-3 result, the Slovakian finished victorious. It was a re-match of the ATP Challenger final in Poprad Tatry, where Kovalik won his fourth trophy.

“We once faced each other in a team competition in France,” Hanfmann gives a view of the final. “I have won. However, we do not know to what extent this result is still relevant.”

With a victory at the sand court tournament endowed with 127,000 euros, the German will definitely receive a new career high ranking. Participation in the US Open would also be within reach.

“That’s not in my head. We can talk about this tomorrow,” Hanfmann, however, gives himself concentrated.

Titleholder Nicola Kuhn, who celebrated his first triumph on the ATP-Challenger-Tour last year in Braunschweig, failed already in his first-round match in the singles against Hanfmann. However, the 19-year-old Spaniard was denied another place in the final, this time in doubles at the side of the Norwegian young star Casper Ruud. The duo lost after a missed match point in the third set against the Indian pairing N. Sriram Balji and Vishnu Vardhan 6-4, 6-7(5), 10-12.

For Kuhn, who has just returned to the tour with new coach Iván Navarro after a broken foot, it was still a positive week. “Of course, last year was special. But it is always nice to come back here. The audience is really great and I feel at home here,” the current number 230 of the ATP world rankings was quite satisfied.

“I didn’t have much time to find Yannick, because he’ll kill the balls. Things went better in doubles. My level was consistently good. It just shows you need a few matches to get back on your feet.”

The German pairing André Begemann and Dustin Brown could not make it into the final either. They were defeated by number 1 seeded Team Santiago Gonzalez from Mexico and Wesely Koolhof from the Netherlands in two sets 6-0, 6-3.