ATP Tournament in Mallorca, quarter-finals, Thursday, 23.06.2022
Alexander Zverev may be injured at the moment and not yet know a date for his return, but the other German tennis stars provide reason to rejoice! Not only Oscar Otte is in top form, but also Daniel Altmaier is establishing himself more and more.
The latter will play his quarter-final in Mallorca on Thursday. Against a rival who is not far away in the world rankings, but still puts the fear of God into the big ones.
While Oscar Otte has fought his way into the Top 40 after the last three semi-finals on German soil and is now taking a little break before Wimbledon, Daniel Altmaier still has this jump ahead of him.
Rank 64, as good as ever, but there’s still more to come! In Stuttgart and Halle in the last weeks, he had the bad luck to face too strong competition in the 1st round. 6-7, 6-7 against Oscar Otte and 3-6, 5-7 against Nick Kyrgios, that’s how you can be eliminated.
On Mallorca, the 23-year-old is now showing that he can also turn the tables. It was very close against Dusan Lajovic, but in the end Altmaier was the lucky winner at 7-5, 7-6.
In the round of 16, the spectators even saw three exciting sets. 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 – against Sebastian Baez it was up and down. Neither Lajovic nor Baez belong to the No Names, which puts Altmaier’s victories in an even higher category.
Against Lajovic, the German had only distributed one break chance and fended it off, Baez was finally allowed to break twice. He won fewer points on his first serve than in the first round, but an average of over 80% is still very strong.
There is no question that the 1.88m tall Altmaier is on his way up. In his first match against Benjamin Bonzi, he would have liked to get some information from his colleague Otte, who actually should have played against him in Stuttgart.
The Frenchman had to cancel due to illness, but came back all the stronger in Halle. He played very well but was still eliminated in the first round – 6-7, 6-1, 3-6 against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
If he had Tsitsipas at least on the brink of defeat, he managed the feat of beating a really big player on Mallorca. He not only beat Denis Shapovalov, he actually humiliated him 6-4, 6-1!
The Canadian is completely out of form, but you still have to force such a result on him. Bonzi took four out of five break chances, while fending off eight of the nine he was granted.
88% won points on the first serve, a fabulous rate. Bonzi, currently ranked 56th, is having a strong year. He is annoying numerous top stars, usually being eliminated in three sets. If the 26-year-old becomes even more consistent, he can go a long way up the rankings!
My Altmaier Bonzi Tip
Can Daniel Altmaier imitate Oscar Otte and move into the semi-finals? In my analysis, I could testify to the German’s stable form. On Mallorca, he kept his nerve twice in close games.
My favourite, however, is on the opposite side. Benjamin Bonzi defeated Denis Shapovalov easily and has already won against Tsitsipas, Sinner and many other well-known players this year. In this respect, I see the plus in his favour and bet:
Bonzi wins against Altmaier with 2:0!
