Olympic champion Alexander Zverev (ATP 23) faces a new first round opponent at the 30th TERRA WORTMANN OPEN. Instead of the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime, who withdrew from the tournament, the semifinalist of the French Open will now play his tennis buddy Dominic Thiem from Austria.
In HalleWestphalia Zverev is starting into the grass season of 2023, after recovering from a light hamstring strain which he suffered in the semi-finals of the French Open against Norwegian Casper. His head-to-head against Thiem is not in his favour. Thiem leads the duel 8-3 and has won the most important match: the US Open final 2020. Nonetheless Zverev is the favourite as Thiem is still looking for his former level.
Top-seeded Daniil Medvedev (ATP 3) will play against a qualifier at the start, while number two-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas (ATP 5) plays against French player Gregoire Barrere at the beginning. “Simple tasks are not there when you have a high-class draw. Every qualifier has achieved great things here“, tournament director Weber said. Kick-off hits are most probably the matches between Jannik Sinner (ATP 9) and routine player Richard Gasquet (ATP 55), who is back to strength, reaching the quarter finals at the ATP tournament in Stuttgart. “We will see world-class duels from the start here”, tournament director Weber stated. “I am intrigued how this birthday edition develops.”
Fans will be especially excited to see how local hero Jan-Lennard Struff (ATP 24) does in HalleWestphalia, as he has celebrated an astonishing upturn in the ATP tour of 2023 so far – the high light so far was the participation in the finals of the ATP 1000-Turnier in Madrid. In HalleWestphalia Struff, the man from Warstein who presented himself in great form in Stuttgart in the semi-finals, too, will meet a qualifier at first. Title-holder Hubert Hurkacz (ATP 14) will equally play a qualifier at the start.
Last year’s semi-finalist Oscar Otte (ATP 141), who is still looking for his 2022-form this season, wants to turn his luck in HalleWestphalia – the wild card starter from Cologne will meet Serbian player Serben Laslo Djere (ATP 60) in his first match. Compatriot Yannick Hanfmann (ATP 53), who also obtained a wild card from the tournament director Ralf Weber, will meet a qualifier at first. The world’s number 7 however, Andrey Rublev will start off against Chinese top-player Yibing Wu (ATP 64). Australia’s super star Nick Kyrgios (ATP 25) plays his kick-off match against Italian Lorenzo Sonego (ATP 41).
The winner of the first-ever tournament, French Henri Leconte and Andrea Petkovic played fate in the draw at the 30. TERRA WORTMANN OPEN. The player from Darmstadt who resigned last year was enthusiastic about the atmosphere at the beginning of the tournament “The location is buzzing, the spectators are really in good spirits. That’s what makes a tennis heart sore.”
