tennis
Last year’s semi-finalist Otte in Stuttgart
Already eliminated in Stuttgart: Oscar Otte. photo
© Marijan Murat/dpa
The fond memories of reaching the semi-finals a year ago did not help tennis player Oscar Otte in Stuttgart to end his earnings crisis.
The fond memories of reaching the semi-finals a year ago did not help tennis player Oscar Otte in Stuttgart to end his earnings crisis.
At the start of the grass season, the man from Cologne had to face the French world number 58. Gregoire Barrere 4:6, 3:6 and was eliminated in the first round. For Otte it was the next early defeat and the fourth first-round defeat in a row. He also failed at the French Open in Paris.
Otte proved in 2022 that he likes the fast game on grass when he reached the semi-finals in Stuttgart and then in Halle in Westphalia. However, Otte was unable to get Barrere, who was playing solidly, under pressure in the first set when he served. The German Davis Cup player, on the other hand, made a double mistake and lost the decisive serve to make it 4:5.
Missed many chances
In the second section, the 29-year-old Otte did not use five chances to take the serve from his opponent of the same age. Immediately afterwards he conceded another break to make it 3:4 and then didn’t win any more games. Otte will thus continue to slide down in the world rankings. Also due to a knee injury, the man from Cologne is only in 141st place and came into the Stuttgart main draw thanks to a wildcard.
Then there are the opening games by Daniel Altmaier and Jan-Lennard Struff at the Weissenhof. French Open semi-finalist Alexander Zverev canceled his participation in the lawn tournament, which is worth 795,730 euros, because of thigh problems.