Stefanos Tsitsipas, 5th in the world and defending champion, suffered a new setback on Wednesday in Mallorca where he was again beaten as soon as he entered the running, by the German Yannick Hanfmann (48th) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 . In three preparation tournaments for Wimbledon, which begins on Monday, the Greek has not won a single match: he was beaten at the start in Stuttgart by the Frenchman Richard Gasquet, in Halle by the Chilean Nicolas Jarry and therefore in Mallorca.
Since his title last year on the Balearic island, Tsitsipas (24) has not won a tournament. It is therefore Hanfmann who, at 31, will face the Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez (634th at 41) or the Australian Jordan Thompson (71st) to try to climb into the Mallorcan last four. The German has already played eleven quarter-finals on the circuit so far, but all on clay.
“I don’t know if it’s my best victory, but in terms of my opponent’s ranking, yes, commented Hanfmann. It’s a very good performance and I feel very comfortable which is very good just before Wimbledon. “I served very well and apart from a game in the second set where he broke me, I didn’t give him many chances on serve and it’s very good for confidence,” he said. He underlines.
