MARBURG, July, 6, 2018
Two players from South America will compete in Saturday’s singles final of the Marburg Open, as Hugo Dellien from Bolivia will take on Argentina’s Juan-Igancio Londero.
Dellien ended the great run of German wild card entry Julian Lenz on a sunny but windy Saturday afternoon in Marburg. The No. 3 seed capitalized on three of his six break point chances to secure a 6-3, 6-3 victory in one hour and five minutes.
“I served well. That was key today,” Dellien was pleased with his performance.
First semi-final for Lenz
Julian Lenz
Lenz could also take some positives from this week after reaching the stage of the final four on the ATP Challenger Tour for the first time.
“I ran a bit out of steam today. I played a lot of matches in the last couple of days and struggled with a foot injury in recent times,” Lenz commented.
“Due to the new ranking system intruduced next year, the quality at Challenger level has improved a lot. Competing in the qualifying has become really tough, so it was an advantage to get a direct entry into this tournament. On the other hand, I also put myseld under pressure, in particular in the first match but it became better and better.”
The World No. 689 beat Sebastian Ofner, Rudolf Molleker Elliot Benchetrit en-route to the semis.
“The match against Molleker was probably the highlight of the week. He is a very talented young player, who beat Jan-Lennard Struff in Halle and for sure he will crack the top 100 soon. I needed to play my best tennis, striking 19 aces and still it became very close in the end,” Lenz said and added that he will next compete in the Regionalliga team competition in Germany before playing the ITF Futures in Kassel and Wetzlar.
Londero oustlasts Auger-Aliassime
Juan-Ignacio Londero – photo: Florian Heer
Londero fought past #NextGenATP Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime 7-5, 1-6, 6-1. The 24-year-old from Buenos Aires sent down five aces, winning 76 per cent of his first service points to prevail after one hour and 52 minutes.
“It was important to keep up the high intensity,” Londero said. “I lost the focus a bit in the second set but recovered in the third. It was also bit difficult with the wind today.
“Tomorrow will be another tough match. We know each other very well and I am looking forward to a good final.”
Dellien and Londero will meet for the seventh time. Their head-to-head record is tied at 6-6. Dellien won their last match in the semis at the Sarasota Open in straight sets earlier this season.
The World No. 120 from Bolivia is seeking his fourth ATP Challenger title of the year, Londero his second.
In the doubles final, top seeds Fabricio Neis of Brazil and Spaniard David Vega Hernandez will face the all-Swiss combination of Henri Laaksonen and Luca Margaroli. The doubles title match will open the action on Sunday at 1 pm local time followed by the singles final not before 3 pm.
