ÖTV ace Dennis Novak (ATP/159) continues to try to catch up with his form after his ligament tear in February. At the Cordeneons Challenger in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, which is endowed with 73,000 euros, the Lower Austrian fails in round one on Tuesday.
Novak, who was top seeded in the nominally weak clay court event, lost in 1:13 playing time in two sets against unseeded Frenchman Matteo Martineau (FRA/371) 6: 2, 6: 2. For the French it was only the second victory on the second-class Challenger Tour in the current year.
While Dominic Thiem and Sebastian Ofner are taking a break for the time being, Jurij Rodionov is the last Austrian to be in action this week alongside Lukas Neumayer. The Viennese, who is top seeded like Novak, plays against the local hero Henri Squire (ATP/278) in the Meerbusch Challenger tonight. Rodionov (ATP/109) could crack the top 100 for the first time with a quarter-finals in North Rhine-Westphalia.
2023-08-08 11:54:55
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