STUTTGART, June 9, 2019

Dustin Brown will join a strong German contingent in the singles main draw at the MercedesCup. The 34-year-old Celle native defeated Frenchman Gregoire Barrere 6-2, 7-6(2) in the final round of the qualifying on Sunday.

Brown, who eased past Denis Istomin in his opening match, fired 11 aces to prevail after only 62 minutes. A total amount of six local players will appear in the main draw of the ATP 250 grass-court event led by the tournament’s top seed Alexander Zverev.

The World No. 5 has already arrived in Stuttgart. Following an exhibition match between Bob and Mike Bryan as well as Mischa Zverev and Tommy Haas, Sascha was out on Center Court for a short practice session with his brother. Zverev’s coach Ivan Lendl is expected to arrive in Germany on Monday, joining the team for the entire grass-court season.

Meanwhile in Stuttgart, first practice for Alexander Zverev on the grass. #MercedesCup pic.twitter.com/tEk9bgHZ2j

— TennisTourTalk (@TennisTourTalk) 9. Juni 2019

Alexei Popyrin of Australia also booked his spot in the main draw of the ATP 250-event. The 19-year-old Australian defeated Matteo Viola from Italy 6-3, 7-5. Viktor Galovic of Croatia upset Sergiy Stakhovsky from the Ukraine, winning 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in one hour and 47 match.

The final match of the day between Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez and Alexander Bublik from Kazakhstan was suspended due to rain after Lopez took the opening set 7-5. Their encounter was postponed to Monday morning.

Photo Gallery (by Florian Heer)