Sparkassen Trophy: Wolf, Prader and Berger reach second qualifying round

Four South Tyroleans took part in the qualification today, three of whom are still there tomorrow thanks to victories, while Alessandro De Menech had to give up.

The Algunder Matthias Wolf (ATP 1845) was the first of the four South Tyroleans to take the field today - and he was the first to qualify for the second and decisive qualifying round. A mediocre performance against the Italian Giacomo Botticelli was enough for him to win with 6/4 6/3. In the first set, Wolf took the lead 5/2, then had to accept the break to 5/4 and even fended off a ball from his opponent to 5/5 before he used a break point to 6/4. Wolf also pulled away to 5/2 in the second set, but this time he didn't let anything go. On Monday, at 11.30 a.m., Wolf will play against Ferdinando Bonuccelli, who will probably still have today's marathon match against Filippo Borella in his bones (5/7 6/4 6/3).

Patrick Prader had to fight much harder against the Romanian Vasile Antonescu (ATP 1879), but after 2.15 hours he was also able to celebrate. In what was possibly the best match of the day, Prader pulled away to 4/2, but still had to go to the tie-break, which he won 7/5. In the second set, Prader managed the decisive break to 5/3 - it was the longest game of the second set. Then Prader served for 6/3. Tomorrow at 10 a.m. he plays against Daniele Capecchi, who beat Federico Teodori 6/0 2/6 6/4.

Alessandro De Menech misses two match balls The 16-year-old from Merano was only missing one point Alessandro De Menech on his debut on the ITF tour to follow Wolf and Prader into the second round. At 5/4 and 15/40 in the third set he had two match points against Kevin Albonetti (ATP 1745), which he couldn't use and was presented with the bill in the tiebreak (2/7). In the third set, De Menech was already leading 5/2 and 6/5. In any case, De Menech delivered a talent test today.

The fourth and last South Tyrolean who took to the pitch today also delivered a test of talent. But in contrast to De Menech, the 17-year-old Simon Berger from ATC Bruneck a happy ending. The 1,95 meter tall serving giant won against Leonardo Campi after losing the first set 5/7 6/4 6/4. Berger also led 4/2 in the first set. In the third set, Berger managed the decisive break to 4/2 and after fending off three break points to 4/4, the way to the second round was clear. After 2.40 hours, Berger converted his first match point.

There was also a nice opening morning pint in Rungg today with free white sausage for the audience and sponsors. Among others, Eppan's mayor Wilfried Trettl, community representative Massimo Cleva, tourism association president Rudi Christof and tennis state association president Tatjana Finger were spotted.

Marti cancels, Vagnozzi the new number 1 of the tournament In the meantime, the Spanish top favorite Javier Marti had to withdraw from the Sparkassen Trophy due to injury at the very last moment, meaning that long-time Seppi training partner and ex-South Tyrolean Simone Vagnozzi (ATP 236) rose to number one on the seeding list. The 29-year-old Vagnozzi has a lot to offer at the Sparkassen Trophy, as he has reached the semi-finals three times in six appearances so far (2002, 2003 and 2011) and has shown that the Rungger places suit him. Favorite number two is also an old Rungger acquaintance, namely the 30-year-old Argentinian Sebastian Decoud (ATP 270), who was (surprisingly) eliminated in the round of 2008 in Rungg in 132 as number two on the seeding list and rose to XNUMXnd place in the following months advanced to the world rankings.

Attached is the qualifying game grid and Monday's game plan

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Sparkassen Trophy: Wolf, Prader and Berger reach second qualifying round

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