While day two of the German Open brought upsets to two of the top four seeds, day three saw the other top seeds excel. However, not every seeded player made it out unscathed; sixth seed Nicolas Almagro became the casualty of the day after a three set loss to Paul-Henri Mathieu.
The results
Day 3 kicked off with a battle of Argentinians. After an hour and 32 minutes, Renzo Olivo defeated Maximo Gonzalez in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4. Olivo wasted little time jumping out to an early lead; he broke serve at 30 on his first return to take a 2-0 lead. With a 1-3 mountain to climb, Gonzalez saw a chance to catapult himself back into the set. His first break point came at 30-40, but his 24-year-old opponent battled through that point and two more deuces to hold for a 4-1 lead. That set proceeded without a break. The second set also featured some early action as Olivo saw a chance to break after three deuces. While that point didn’t go his way, he was able to save two break points when he trailed 1-2 and 2-3. The match was officially put out of reach in the seventh game—where Olivo broke his 32-year-old’s serve easily at 15.
As a dominant clay-court player, Pablo Cuevas was expected to make a big splash in this tournament. After a clinical 6-2, 6-3 defeat of Thiago Monteiro, it’s safe to say a splash was made. The first ten points went well for Cuevas’s Brazilian adversary; he even saw the first break point of the match. Well, seeing wasn’t enough. The 22-year-old lefty couldn’t grab a break, and, after that point, won only one more point on return for the entire set. Meanwhile, after the first game, Cuevas saw at least one break point in every game for the rest of the set. Leading 5-1, 15-40, the Uruguayan had two set points, but his opponent saved both as well as two more to dodge a breadstick set loss. Instead, he lost it 6-2 as Cuevas held serve at 15. The second set was more of the same. Aside from the first return, the world number 24 saw break points in every return game while giving up only two points on serve.
One day after Benoit Paire and Alexander Zverev were upset, another seeded player was given quite a scare from an unlikely player. It was Nicolas Kicker who stole the first set against Philipp Kohlschreiber before ultimately falling to a score of 4-6, 6-1, 6-2. The match began with a thrilling first set; Kicker grabbed the first break to take a 2-1 lead, but his German opponent quickly broke back to keep the set on serve. At 4-3, it appeared the 32-year-old would score a second break at 15-40. The Argentinian wouldn't let that happen as he saved both points as well as two more en route to a five deuce hold. In the next game, Kicker saw a break point and didn't let it go—breaking serve and holding to take the first set. The second set had five games with break points—four of which were won by Kohlschreiber. The German wasted little time finishing off the match after taking the second set in a 6-1 breadstick. With all of the momentum, Kohlschrieber won the first two games without losing a point. He ended up winning the third—paced by a dominant serve that gave up just five points all set.
The final match of the day featured a three-set duel between Almagro and Mathieu. Although the Frenchman struggled in the first set, he bounced back in the second and got the critical break to take the match in the third. After two hours and 49 minutes, Mathieu left with a 4-6, 7-6(4), 7-5 victory and a spot in the quarterfinals.