ATP: DTB Youngster beats Ex-Number-Three

Rudolf Molleker, only 17 years old, has reached the eighth-finals of an ATP tournament at the German Open at Rothenbaum in Hamburg. The Berliner beat David Ferrer from Spain 7:5, 5:7, 6:3 in the Hanseatic city.

Molleker was enthusiastic about the audience and promised the visitors even more: “I love Hamburg! If I keep playing like this, my path doesn’t have to be over.” Next opponent is the Slovakian qualifier Jozef Kovalik, who beat Damir Dzumhur.

Previously, German Daniel Masur had celebrated his first victory on the ATP Tour against compatriot Maximilian Marterer. And it was worth 22,750 euros.

In 2016 and 2017, Masur had failed in qualifying on the Rothenbaum, but in the third attempt he made it into the main field. As before in Munich, but there the man from Lower Saxony also lost in a German duel against Jan-Lennard Struff from Warstein.

“This is undoubtedly the greatest success of my career. My goal is to be among the top 150 players in the world rankings by the end of the year. This victory was very important,” said Masur, who obviously enjoyed the support of the 5500 spectators: “If you don’t play well as a German player in Hamburg, where do you play well?