Erste Bank Open: Oscar Otte loses - the Heumarkt becomes a German hole
Oscar Otte was eliminated as a lucky loser at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. This means that not a single German is represented in the tableaus.
by Jens Huiber
last edit:
Oct 25, 2022, 03:11 pm
By Jens Huiber from Vienna
In Wengen, on what is still the longest downhill run in the Ski World Cup, so many red-white-red top athletes got up in a curve (already in 1954, by the way) that this special section of the route has honestly earned the name "Austrian hole". . The tennis tent on Vienna's Heumarkt has the potential to soon be included in the lexicon of the most exciting locations on the ATP tour as a "German hole". Because Oscar Otte has now lost his second match in a row in the #believeinyourself arena. And Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies were also complimented here on Monday by Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen from the tournament.
But back to Otte. The man from Cologne had lost in three sets against Thiago Monteiro in the second qualifying round, but had slipped into the 32-man grid after Matteo Berrettini's cancellation. And was allowed to open the festivities at Heumarkt against Daniel Evans on Tuesday.
Otte strong in spring
In the last few weeks, Otte hasn't reached the form that carried him to the semi-finals in Munich, Stuttgart and HalleWestfalen in the spring. The self-confidence of the man from Cologne seems to have suffered a little, which is also reflected in the fact that Otte's approach to the game is no longer quite as funny as in the grass tournaments mentioned. Now the forehand slice per se grips much better on grass than on a hard court indoors. And from time to time Otte also interspersed this in Vienna.
No, the match against Evans was very good to watch. Neither Otte nor the Brit are suspected of over-muscling an opponent. Even if the German's serve is a board. But Otte lost that in the first attempt on Tuesday, as well as the first set against Evans with 3:6. In round two the tide seemed to turn, Evans managed the re-break at the last possible moment, i.e. to 5:5. And then also won the tie-break with 7:3.
Canada with Shapovalov against Germany
A second spring is not only to be wished for Oscar Otte as a single player, but also for German tennis as a whole. Because Otte will go into the quarter-finals in Malaga as number one in the Davis Cup team. And after the nominations became known on Monday, that suddenly reads much more demanding than expected: It became known that the Canadian opponents of Michael Kohlmann's team would attack with Denis Shapovalov after all. The left-hander sat out the intermediate round in Valencia. Individual points are required. And Oscar Otte must get his against Félix Auger-Aliassime.
Here the individual tableau in Vienna
viennamap