It was already well after midnight when Jan-Lennard Struff went to the net one last time. A brief handshake with his opponent Rinky Hijikata, then the number 24 in the world rankings went on to the hard-fought five-set victory (3:6, 6:3, 6:2, 6:7 (2:7), 7:6 (10: 8)) After 3:50 hours of play, we went to the obligatory appointment with the media and then finally to the hotel. In his opening victory in Melbourne at the Australian Open, Struff, who will now face the Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic in the second round, had a difficult time, in contrast to the other German men who were in action at the facility on the Yarra River on Monday at least still won.
Yannick Hanfmann lost to Frenchman Gael Monfils in three sets. The same applied to Maximilian Materer, who did not win a round against the Portuguese Nuno Borges. Daniel Altmaier lost against the Russian Karen Chatschanow 7:5, 3:6, 6:7 (5:7), 6:7 (3:7). Four German men in action and only one with great difficulty in the second round – the women that day would be Laura Siegemund and Tatjana Maria, who defeated the Colombian Camila Osorio 7:5, 6:7 (4:7), 6 :4 hit, wasn’t that successful: One could definitely have called it a black day for German tennis.
Hanfmann struggled with missed opportunities in his match: “I had a few that I didn’t take advantage of. I put too much pressure on myself,” said the Karlsruher, who had the audience against him in sixth place in a duel with crowd favorite Monfils. “I knew that would be the case,” said Hanfmann. Altmaier, who has never reached the second round in Melbourne, expressed his frustration. “It just hurts to go out of a Grand Slam so early,” Altmaier said: “I put so much work into it. I look forward positively, but the moment sucks right now.”
Goodbye, Andy? Murray waves goodbye to the audience. : Image: AP
Not good at all for Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka either. Out in round one, the two tennis veterans had certainly imagined it completely differently. Wawrinka ultimately ran out of steam in the 4:6, 6:3, 7:5, 3:6, 0:6 against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino. Murray never found his rhythm in the 4:6, 2:6, 2:6 defeat of Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
“It was a disappointing performance, just poor,” Murray said afterwards. Was the performance at the KIA Arena his last in Melbourne? “That’s definitely possible,” said the former world number one. “I have an idea of how and where I want to stop,” Murray said. But he didn’t want to announce it publicly.
David Lindenfeld, Melbourne Published/Updated: Recommendations: 4 David Lindenfeld, Melbourne Published/Updated: Recommendations: 4 David Lindenfeld, Melbourne Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 2
Wawrinka, on the other hand, sounded much more likely to play in Melbourne again next year. “Hopefully not, hopefully not,” he replied when asked if this was his last appearance at Melbourne Park. “It’s only the beginning of the year. Basically, I’m very happy with how things are going.”
