Second seed Frances Tiafoe was eliminated at the Bitpanda Hamubrg Open after losing 2:6 and 3:6 to Roberto Bautista Agut. Tiafoe struggled to get his first serve through right from the start of the match and was unable to cope with the Spaniard’s concentrated performance. Bautista Agut only showed nerves for a short time when he was unable to capitalize on his first four match points and suddenly had to fend off a break at 5:3 in the second set. A brief phase of uncertainty that had no consequences: despite the cheers of the noisy Hamburg crowd, Tiafoe lost, only occasionally getting his brute forehand through.

The next highlight on Germany’s most beautiful center court followed immediately: Rothenbaum welcomed its new fan favorite, the top German talent Justin Engel. After his first-round win against Jan-Lennard Struff, the 17-year-old faced the 2020 tournament winner Andrey Rublev and only narrowly lost 3:6 and 5:7. Engel got off to a spectacular start with a break, but then clearly lost the first set 3:6.

Engel’s coach Philipp Kohlschreiber then saw an improvement in his protégé’s performance, who worked his way back into the match with his precise forehand under the frenetic support of the Hamburg fans and had Rublev on the verge of equalizing the set in the second set.The wild carder put up a passionate fight with his physical style of play, many games went to deuce and also drove the crowd to peak performances.
The disappointment was great after the narrow defeat – but Engel, who sensationally beat his former babysitter Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round, is likely to be a welcome guest at the Rothenbaum in the coming years.

“He punished my mistakes, he did that a bit better. Nevertheless, I had chances today in this match. Overall, I’m very satisfied with my tournament,” said Engel.