Revenge after 26 hours: lucky loser Altmaier through in Basel as Wawrinka is honoured
Beaten in qualifying, then a winner against the same opponent as a lucky loser: Daniel Altmaier is into the last 16 in Basel. In the evening Stan Wawrinka was celebrated ahead of his final tournament.
Archive image · Photo: Hameltion / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Daniel Altmaier pulled off an unusual revenge at the Swiss Indoors in Basel. According to tennisnet.com, the German lost to Juan Manuel Cerúndolo in qualifying on Sunday, entered the main draw as a lucky loser and met the Argentine again around 26 hours later. This time Altmaier won 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-4 after two hours and 40 minutes. His only break came in the third set, shortly after receiving treatment on his hip. In the last 16 he faces Stan Wawrinka or eighth seed Jiří Lehečka.
Holger Rune also advanced. The former world No. 4, back from an 11-month layoff with an Achilles injury, beat Quentin Halys 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-6(5) despite 32 aces from the Frenchman. According to the ATP Tour it was Rune's first tour-level win since his return. Casper Ruud beat wildcard Dominic Stricker 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.
In the evening the spotlight was on Stan Wawrinka. Ahead of his final professional tournament, the Swiss Indoors honoured him with a ceremony lasting more than an hour, SRF reported, with video messages from Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. "Unfortunately I never won here. But it is a dream to be able to end my career here at home," the 41-year-old said, according to 20 Minuten. His first-round match against Lehečka is scheduled for Tuesday at 8pm.