tennis
Koepfer continues in Rome, Struff narrowly fails
Dominik Koepfer is in the third round in Rome. photo
© Peter Kneffel/dpa
Dominik Koepfer surprises at the Masters tournament on clay in Rome. Jan-Lennard Struff shows his current top form despite a defeat. And Rafael Nadal has a lot of work waiting for him before the French Open.
Tennis player Dominik Koepfer won at the Masters 1000 tournament Rome reached the third round. The Davis Cup player caused a surprise and defeated number 22 seed Francis Tiafoe from the USA 6:4, 6:2. An American opponent awaits the 30-year-old from Furtwangen in the third round: Tommy Paul.
Jan-Lennard Struff, however, had to admit defeat to Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas later in the evening in his second round match after a tough fight 7:6 (7:1), 4:6, 4:6. The 34-year-old from Warstein got off to a brilliant start and even caused Tsitsipas to smash his racket in frustration after just a few minutes. After two and a half hours, the world number eight scored his first match point. Olympic champion Alexander Zverev (27) plays against the Italian Luciano Darderi for a place in the round of 16.
Nadal fails because of Hurkacz
Spain’s tennis star Rafael Nadal has already been eliminated. The 22-time Grand Slam tournament winner had almost no chance against number seven seeded Poland Hubert Hurkacz on Saturday and lost 1:6, 3:6. Nadal has the most wins (70) and tournament triumphs (10) in Rome, but the 37-year-old was in a losing position from the start against Hurkacz, who was tactically clever and played largely error-free. After what was probably his last match in Italy’s capital, Nadal disappeared from the court quickly and without the great emotions he did after his fourth-round exit in Madrid.
It is still not entirely certain whether Nadal will compete at the French Open, which begins on May 26th, or not. However, he is currently leaning towards starting, the 14-time French Open winner revealed after his defeat against Hurkacz. Nadal, who was repeatedly set back by injuries, only returned to the tour in mid-April. He wants to end his career in 2024.