A downpour ended the tennis day in Stuttgart prematurely. Jan-Lennard Struff has to continue his race to catch up on Thursday. Matteo Berrettini, second seeded, is happy about a successful comeback after one of the "toughest matches" of the year.
Stuttgart (dpa / lsw) - The second sentence was just entering the hot phase when a cloudburst over the Weissenhof brought it to an abrupt end. The round of 16 game of Warsteiner tennis pro Jan-Lennard Struff at the ATP lawn tournament in Stuttgart was interrupted on Wednesday due to rain and should be continued on Thursday. After 1:20 hours it was between the 32-year-old and the Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6: 7 (2: 7), 4: 3. So Sonego's second-seeded compatriot Matteo Berrettini will have to wait a little longer before he knows who he will face in the quarter-finals.
The tenth in the world rankings had previously celebrated a successful comeback at the event in Stuttgart, which was endowed with 769,645 euros - albeit with difficulty. 6:2, 4:6, 6:3, second seeded Berrettini prevailed in his opening match against Moldovan Radu Albot. In the first round he had a bye.
"I knew it would be one of my toughest matches this year," said Berrettini, who had been out for several weeks due to a hand operation and had also decided not to start at the French Open in Paris. "I am very happy."
In 2019, Berrettini won the title in Stuttgart - it was his first on grass on the ATP tour. The 26-year-old is one of the favorites to win this year as well. Last summer he was in Wimbledon in the final of the most important lawn tournament in the world.
At the Weissenhof, Berettini is the most popular player in the field alongside top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and former world number one Andy Murray. The Greek Tsitsipas meets the Swiss qualifier Dominic Stricker in the round of 16 on Thursday, the Briton Murray meets the Kazakh Alexander Bublik.
And Oscar Otte, next to Struff the only remaining German in the individual field of Stuttgart, is also required. Cologne's round of 16 game against Canadian Denis Shapovalov was scheduled for Wednesday evening and was completely postponed due to the rain.
