Surprise in Melbourne. Yannick Hanfmann clearly prevailed against local hero Thanasi Kokkinakis in the first round of the Australian Open. Now it’s up to him against the top favourite.
Tennis pro Yannick Hanfmann earned a duel with superstar Rafael Nadal with a strong opening performance at the Australian Open. The 30-year-old qualifier from Karlsruhe defeated the Australian crowd favorite Thanasi Kokkinakis surprisingly clearly 6: 2, 6: 3, 6: 2 on Monday and is now challenging the Spanish Grand Slam record winner in the second round. He had convincingly beaten the American Marcos Giron 6: 1, 6: 4, 6: 2 (read more about this here).
Koepfer on, Djokovic’s substitute out
Hanfmann didn’t let the loud Australian crowd bother him against Kokkinakis, who recently won his first ATP title in Adelaide, and converted his third match point after 2:07 hours. He followed Dominik Koepfer (Furtwangen) into the second round, who had beaten the Spaniard Carlos Taberner 6:1, 3:6, 6:4, 6:1 after a concentrated performance over long stretches.
In his previous two appearances in the Melbourne main draw, the Davis Cup player was over in the second round at the latest. Now the German number three is preparing to take the next step in a duel with Reilly Opelka (USA/No. 23) or Kevin Anderson (South Africa).
Koepfer was “happy” with the win, but also reported elbow problems after the match. “It’s okay with enough painkillers, it’s an overstrain on the bones. It was very good today, but I’ll probably have to take a few weeks off after the Australian Open,” said the former college player.
Tatjana Maria, Andrea Petkovic and Peter Gojowczyk have already been eliminated. And the substitute Novak Djokovic’s Salvatore Caruso also had to pack his things. Read more about this here and here.
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