(Tennis news) On Wednesday, June 28, the top-seeded player from Greece, Stefanos Tsitsipas, was defeated by Yannick Hanfmann of Germany, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, in the second round of the Mallorca Open. The heated exchange lasted for 1 hour, 46 minutes. Thus, Tsitsipas’ unimpressive run in 2023 continued as the 24-year-old Greek experienced yet another letdown.
Yannick Hanfmann made a strong start to the match by defeating Tsitsipas in the first game. He continued to lead for the rest of the first set after holding his serve to go up two games.
Stefanos Tsitsipas used several backhand slices to slow down the ball, but they frequently gave the World No. 48 plenty of tennis time to prepare his strokes. The majority of crosscourt backhand exchanges were dominated by the German, who later scored with his inside-out and inside-in forehand. Yannick Hanfmann also made a couple effective approaches before volleying and smashing points in at the net.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, who never gives up easily, performed well in the second set. In the eighth game, he defeated the German, and in the following game, he served out the set. In the third set, though, Hanfmann upped the ante and broke the Greek twice to take the match. Tsitsipas frequently tried to go to the goal during the game, but the German was able to get by him a few times.
The difference between the Greek’s opponent’s far better 63% and the Greek’s 42% ability to win points on his second serve proved to be critical. Three of the German’s six break-point opportunities during the game were successful.
In doing so, Yannick Hanfmann pulled off the tournament’s second major upset after Pavel Kotov’s victory over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Tuesday. He will be the slight favourite going into his duel with Lopez.
On Thursday, Feliciano Lopez of Spain, an experienced player, will compete against Hanfmann. The popular favourite will be the 41-year-old Spaniard competing in his final tournament on home turf, but the German will be confident of winning.
