When his premiere victory on the ATP tour was certain after almost three hours, Lorenzo Musetti lay on his back on the sand and grabbed his head. The 20-year-old outsider from Italy seemed unable to believe that in the final of the European Open, which could hardly be surpassed in terms of tension, after a hard fight 6: 4, 6: 7 (6: 8), 6: 4 against the top -Favorites Carlos Alcaraz from Spain had prevailed. He dedicated his triumph at his first tennis appearance at Hamburg's Rothenbaum to his grandmother.
World number six Alcaraz, also in the Hanseatic city for the first time, missed the sixth coup he was aiming for on the ATP tour in front of 7,500 fans at around 30 degrees. The 19-year-old top favorite was initially far from the form of the previous days. In the first set, he gave his serve twice to Musetti, who made fewer mistakes himself and took almost every chance.
Alcaraz was also quickly 2-0 down in the second half, but kept urging himself on and was suddenly back to his old self in dire need. He fended off two match points and saved himself in the tie break, in which Musetti was unable to use three more match points. In the deciding set, however, a break was enough for the Italian because he used his sixth match point after 2:46 hours. "This is a great moment for me," said the world number 62 proudly.
The day before, outsider Bernarda Pera (USA) had continued her triumphal march at Rothenbaum. In the final, the 27-year-old didn't give the tournament favorite Anett Kontaveit from Estonia a chance with a score of 6:2, 6:4 and won the second tournament in a week after Budapest. "It was one of the most impressive performances I've ever seen," praised tournament ambassador Andrea Petkovic. The 34-year-old from Darmstadt was the only one of eleven German women's and men's individual participants to survive round one and fail in the quarter-finals because of Kontaveit. "The German record is mixed," said Petkovic, "but there were many more top stars than in 2021."
She has not yet been able to say with certainty whether the “Petko”, who is very popular at Rothenbaum, will compete again next year. "A strong 3.5," she answered with a smile when asked how she saw the chances of returning to Hamburg as a player on a scale of one to ten. "But that may change in a few weeks and the chance may increase," she added with a grin. The background to this is the increasing number of injuries suffered by Petkovic, who also had to give up her quarter-final against Kontaveit. "I think I've got 13 injuries at the moment," she said cheerfully.
Even before the end of the first Rothenbaum double event in 44 years, tournament director Sandra Reichel drew a positive conclusion. “It was right to compete here with women and men in a tournament in one week. We experienced a mini-Grand Slam feeling.” She praised the top level of the gathered world leaders, economically she was satisfied with 55,000 spectators in nine days. "It's going to be in the black, but we didn't really earn that much," admitted the Austrian. She believes that a combined tournament will also be played in the Hanseatic city in 2023. "I think the signs are good." State Councilor for Sport Christoph Holstein, who was again present at Rothenbaum on the final day, was full of praise and spoke of a "new level" to which the tournament had been raised. Otherwise there were actually only satisfied faces on the tennis court.
What comes after 2023 is still open. The latest indications from the German Tennis Association suggest that there will be a change in the organizers - but there is no doubt that Hamburg should continue to host a tournament of this quality, i.e. the ATP 500 category.
