Nikoloz Basilashvili followed Leonardo Mayer into the final at Rothenbaum in Hamburg. In the semi-final, interrupted by a thunderstorm, the Georgian won 7-5, 0-6, 6-1 against Chilean Nicolas Jarry, who had eliminated top seed Dominic Thiem (Austria) the day before.
Two qualifiers, a seeded young star and a two-time champion were in the semi-finals of the German Tennis Championships in Hamburg. Leonardo Mayer and Nikoloz Basilashvili reached the final in the Hanseatic city. The ATP-500 event at Rothenbaum is once again a surprise.
Leonardo Mayer, who was already able to hijack the silver propeller in 2014 and 2017, moved back into the final of the sand court tournament endowed with 1,619,935 euros. With 7:6 (8:6), 4:6, 7:6 (9:7) he defeated the Slovakian qualifier Jozef Kovalik after two hours and 50 minutes in the first match of the day.
“I played a very good match against a great opponent,” said Mayer after his victory: “It was a very strong match with a lot of fighting, a lot of strength and heart on the court. That helped me to play very well and win the match. It was a game to my limits – with many important points. Luckily I won today,” said the world’s number 36.
Mayer was a little surprised about the climate in the far north. “It was very warm today as well. That’s the first time I’ve played in Hamburg at these temperatures, but I don’t care. I love to play here.”
Mayer’s answers to journalists’ questions are still in Spanish. Already at his first surprise success four years ago, he made the organizers sweat when he announced before the final press conference that he spoke very poor English.
At that time, a linesman was quickly called in as an interpreter. Whether it will happen again this year will depend to a large extent on his opponent on Sunday afternoon. This one will be called Nikoloz Basilashvili. The qualifier from Georgia won a “roller coaster ride” in the following second semi-final against Nicolás Jarry.
At 4:3 and break before for Jarry the match was interrupted for two hours due to a rain shower.
After a sunny week with temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius in the Hanseatic city, the organizers announced just at the beginning of this Saturday that the roof on the center court would no longer be available for the rest of the tournament due to “functional and safety reasons”.
Following the involuntary interruption and under now cooler conditions, Jarry lost the thread. After very stable service games Basilashvili could break the service of the Chilean for the first time in the tenth game. Two games later, he also took the opening round.
Jarry, who had already reached the semi-finals in Rio de Janeiro and the final in Sao Paulo, did not yet admit defeat. On the contrary. The almost two-metre man from South America took the second set with three breaks in a row at a rapid pace of only 23 minutes.
Basilashvili, however, seemed to have divided his forces well in order to start the final round brilliantly. The 26-year-old from Tbilisi, recently supervised by Jan de Witt, once again managed two breaks in a row to take the lead 4-0. Three games later, he served out the match.
Basilashvili reaches his third final on the ATP World Tour. In Kitzbühel in 2016 and in Memphis last year, he lost out. Mayer and the Georgian will meet for the first time.