Daniel Altmaier produced a stunning comeback victory over world No. 6 Ben Shelton at the Hamburg Open on Tuesday, fighting back from a set down to reach the quarterfinals with a 4-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 triumph. The German delighted home fans with his inspired performance against the second seed. Meanwhile, Felix Auger-Aliassime made a successful start as top seed, cruising past Vit Kopriva 7-5, 6-1 in his opening match at the clay-court ATP 500 event. The day also saw qualifier Ignacio Buse stun defending champion Flavio Cobolli to end the Italian's title defense on first round. Wednesday delivers completion of second round with Alex De Minaur facing Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in a top clash of the day.
Altmaier stuns Shelton in front of home fans
Playing in front of his passionate home supporters, Altmaier overcame an early deficit to produce one of the day's most memorable victories. The world No. 65 struggled initially against Shelton's power game, dropping the opening set before finding his rhythm on the clay courts. The pivotal second-set tiebreak proved crucial, with Altmaier showing remarkable composure to level the match. His pressure point statistics told the story of his resilience - winning 18 of 28 serve pressure points, being able to produce more pressure points (33) on return. The German's clay court experience over the past 12 months (14-11 record) proved valuable against Shelton, who couldn't maintain his early momentum. Altmaier was able to keep the pace of Shelton who scored 47 winners to 43 unforced errors. His gameplan has paid off, as his shots variety and ability to slow down the pace during rallies could put out the fire of Shelton's groundstrokes who did not fully settle with accuracy of his shots today. The German was less wasteful on paper with just 24 unforced errors in compare to reasonable 34 winners. Home crowd's hero is the first quarterfinalist in the field, while Shelton continues the struggles since winning ATP 500 title in Munich. The American faced first round exits in Madrid and Rome, winning just one match here in Hamburg, struggling against lower ranked Marcos Giron and taking the eventual win in decisive tiebreak.
Buse ends Cobolli's title defense
Peruvian qualifier Ignacio Buse produced the tournament's biggest upset so far, dismantling defending champion Flavio Cobolli 6-2, 7-5 in a dominant display. The world No. 57 never faced a break point in the entire match, showcasing remarkable composure while converting three of six break point opportunities. Buse's pressure point management was flawless - winning all nine serve pressure points he faced while capitalizing on nine of 17 return pressure situations. The qualifier has played a lot on clay with 40 wins in 60 matches played on all levels, mostly including challengers but also 10 previous main draw victories in ATP Tour. This helped him not just to match, but also to overplay the Italian. Cobolli, ranked 45 spots higher at world No. 12, couldn't find the rhythm that carried him to the title last year despite being a pre-tournament favorite once again according to the performance metrics on clay. This victory represents Buse's second career win over a top-20 opponent and is guaranteed to reach career's best rank after this event. In case of winning round of 16 encounter against Jakub Mensik, Buse can advance into top 50 of the rankings for first time in career.
Auger-Aliassime returns to Hamburg in style
Top seed Felix Auger Aliassime marked his return to competitive action with an authoritative display against Czech qualifier Kopriva. The Canadian, who reached the semifinals at this event last year, showed no signs of rust as he dominated proceedings after a competitive first set. His serving was particularly impressive, firing eight aces and winning over 80% of first serve points while saving all three break points faced. The world No. 5's pressure point statistics were exemplary - winning six of eight serve pressure points and seven of 12 return pressure opportunities. After taking the opening set 7-5, Auger-Aliassime shifted into top gear in the second, racing through 6-1 as his opponent struggled to match the Canadian's intensity. His clay court record over the past 12 months on top level (7-5) may be modest, but this performance suggested he's ready to make another deep run in Hamburg.
Khachanov and Humbert survive in tiebreaks
Fifth seed Karen Khachanov required three sets to overcome lucky loser Hugo Gaston, eventually prevailing 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) in a match that ebbed and flowed throughout. The Russian started slowly, losing the opening set before finding his serve in the latter stages. Khachanov's serving statistics were impressive when he found his rhythm, hitting six aces and winning 77% of first serve points. However, the Frenchman had a great opportunity to serve an upset, being 4-2 up in third set. Khachanov came back level in 7th game and eventually win the tiebreak to move into next round. The world number 15 will face another French opponent there. Ugo Humbert has also needed to seal his advance in third set's tiebreak, playing against local wild card - the 18 years-old Justin Engel. The German has showed up very well, coming back from a set down. Humbert missed two matchpoints during Engel's serve in 10th game of third set but dominated the decisive tiebreak to win by 6-3 3-6 7-6(2) with 12 aces scored.
Wednesday round of 16 preview
We will get known the whole line-up of Hamburg quarterfinals tomorrow with 6 matches scheduled and one waiting for resume after today's rain interruption. Tommy Paul and Tomas Martin Etcheverry will play third set of their thrilling battle which is all levelled after two sets ended in tiebreaks. This took 2.5 hours so far and could already be over, as the Argentinian was serving for the match and had two matchpoints but Paul has somehow managed to force the tiebreak and prolong this battle till tomorrow. With 6 breaks shared in two sets and lot of plot twists so far, the completion of that match promises another lots emotions to follow.
Apart from this, Alex De Minaur faces Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in Wednesday's hit clash. The Australian managed to overcome Francisco Cerundolo from set down despite a slow start to clay season so far, while the Spaniard extended his H2H domination against Corentin Moutet. Both have played 5 times so far with Davidovich Fokina having slight edge winning 3 matches of those.
A. De Minaur vs. A. Davidovich Fokina match preview
Felix Auger Aliassime will chase for the quarterfinal spot against lucky loser from qualifiers - Aleksandar Kovacevic. Karen Khachanov and Ugo Humbert set up the match looking like a serving fest to come after their today's three sets adventures. German fans will cheer on Yannick Hanfmann who takes on clay courts specialist and seventh seed Luciano Darderi.
F. A. Aliassime (1) vs. A. Kovacevic (LL) match preview
K. Khachanov (5) vs. U. Humbert match preview
L. Darderi (7) vs. Y. Hanfmann match preview