At the ATP tournament in Munich, the German double Krawietz / Mies achieved the second win in a row.
Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies savored their victory with relish. After the match point, they raised their arms in the air, then with a grin they encouraged the enthusiastic audience on the center court of the MTTC Iphitos to “wave”. “A cool week, we’re in the flow again, it makes me want to,” said Krawietz, who described the triumph in front of friends and relatives in Munich as “something very extraordinary”.
After Cologne’s Oscar Otte missed the first final of his career on the ATP tour, the two-time winners of the French Open celebrated their sixth title together. The reward for the convincing 4: 6, 6: 4, 10: 7 against Rafael Matos/David Vega Hernandez (Brazil/Spain) was prize money of 28,250 euros. “We really wanted it,” said Mies, “I’m relieved that we made it.”
Three weeks before the start of the French Open (from May 22nd), Krawietz/Mies are indeed in flow. A week ago they won the well-attended tournament in Barcelona. Mies described this as a “great liberation” after a mixed few months, the man from Cologne had to suffer from a corona disease. “I couldn’t train properly for six weeks,” he reported, because “a lot of frustration had built up”.
Krawietz had already won in Munich last year alongside Dutchman Wesley Koolhof. With standard partner Mies, this time he made the embarrassing early departure of Alexander Zverev already forgotten in the round of 16. The plan to take Barcelona as a “booster” worked out perfectly, “KraMies” now want to take the momentum to the Masters in Madrid and Rome before going to Paris.
Munich: Holger Rune wins singles
Sunday almost became a final day of a Cologne city championship with international participation – but Otte, who had been so good and entertaining until then, experienced a slump in the semifinals. Against Holger Rune from Denmark, who eliminated number one seeded Zverev, the Cologne player was 4: 1 in the lead – then his stomach suddenly went on strike, he lost 4: 6, 4: 6.
Rune’s opponent in the final, Botic van de Zandschulp, had it even worse. The Dutchman had to retire in the final at 4:3 and 15:40 – he seemed to have chest pains and was obviously unwell. The 19-year-old Rune received prize money of 81,310 euros and a car for the first victory of a Dane on the ATP tour since Kenneth Carlsen in Memphis/USA in 2005 – but he does not yet have a driver’s license.
Otte had taken a pill the day before because of his symptoms, but he still felt “as if someone had pulled the plug”. The chance of moving into a final after his first semi-final on the ATP tour was gone, so the 28-year-old understandably had “a thick neck”. After all: On Monday he will be in 52nd place in the world rankings, better than ever.
