Day three of the BMW Open main draw action saw the third and eighth seeds advance, but the sixth and seventh seeds were sent packing early. The rain of day two did not continue as beautiful weather shone through on Wednesday in Munich, Germany.
Germans grab two wins, three losses
Cedrik-Marcel Stebe made his way into the first round through qualifying. He booked a match with this year’s Ecuador Open champion, Victor Estrella Burgos. The qualifier struggled on his first serve points, which ultimately resulted in his 7-5, 6-2 loss to the Dominican in an hour and 26 minutes.
Alexander Zverev started his day already down four games to five due to his match against Malek Jaziri being suspended on Tuesday. The Turk began right where he left off by stealing the first set 6-4. But the dominant service games from the German proved pivotal as the eighth seed wrapped up the opening round encounter, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, in two hours and ten minutes to put him into the second round in his home country.
Vasek Pospisil exited Munich after a loss in three sets to Jan-Lennard Struff. The German bounced back from a first set tiebreaker loss to routinely advance with a 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2 triumph. Struff tallied just his second win of the year after upsetting the world number 45.
Juan Martin del Potro made his first appearance on the clay courts in three years. The Argentine had a tricky obstacle ahead of him in Dustin Brown. But, the wildcard put away the home-hope 7-6(2), 6-4 in an hour and 22 minutes. Del Potro dominated on his first serve to book him a meeting with another German, Jan-Lennard Struff, in the second round.
Maximilian Marterer took Center Court for his first round clash against the fifth seed, Fabio Fognini. The wildcard was no match for the Italian as Fognini dominated the match in 6-3, 6-1 style. The encounter finished in just under an hour with the fifth seeded player advancing to the second round.
Europeans overcome South Americans
Dominic Thiem is one of the big ATP World Tour stars to be in action this week. He was given the luxury of a first round bye as he began his BMW Open campaign against Santiago Giraldo in the second round. Both players failed to gain control on their first serve return, but it was the Austrian who grabbed the crucial breaks in the deep set stages. Thiem prevailed against the Colombian in just over an hour and a half, 7-5, 6-4.
Ivan Dodig joined Struff on the day three upset wins. The Croatian took advantage of Thomaz Bellucci’s second serve to earn his first victory over the Brazilian. Dodig booked his place in the quarterfinals with a 7-6(5), 6-3 win in an hour and 44 minutes.
Capping off Wednesday’s action
Igor Sijsling also advanced after the qualifier routinely passed Marco Cecchianto out on Court 2. Doubles action continued, as well, as all three seeded teams in action breezed through their matchups. Day three saw amazing tennis, but Thursday will see the top seed make his start to his tournament campaign.