MercedesCup: Stuttgart: Talent Molleker and Oldie Mayer in the round of 16

Rudolf Molleker celebrated the greatest success of his career at the start of the turf season at the ATP tournament in Stuttgart.

The 17-year-old Berliner surprisingly defeated the eleven-year-old Davis Cup player Jan-Lennard Struff (Warstein) 6:4, 6:7 (5:7), 6:3 in his first round of 16 on the ATP Tour. The 34-year-old Florian Mayer (Bayreuth) defeated local hero Yannick Maden 6-4, 6-1 in the second German duel of the day.

The world ranked 303rd Molleker will face the second seeded defending champion Lucas Pouille from France in the round of the last 16. Wildcard owner Mayer, who won his first main field match this year against Maggots, will face either Philipp Kohlschreiber (Augsburg) or the Uzbek Denis Istomin.

Only in mid-May, Molleker won his first tournament on the second-class Challenger Tour in Heilbronn. Struff, who had failed in the second round of the French Open, clearly noticed the switch from sand to grass.

In addition to Molleker and Mayer, three other German players can enter the round of the last 16 in the Mercedes Cup, which is endowed with 729,340 euros. In the afternoon Mischa Zverev (Hamburg) will play the Russian qualifier Michail Yuschni. If Alexander Zverev’s older brother were to win, he would have to deal with Roger Federer. After another missed clay court season, the Swiss returns to the tour after two and a half months.

Kohlschreiber and Maximilian Marterer (Nuremberg) will not enter the tournament until Tuesday. Peter Gojowczyk (Munich) cancelled his participation after his first round task in Roland Garros because of a hip injury.