Tennis in Paris: Altmaier's journey ends

At the end of the second set, the tennis racket flew against the bench next to the clay court. A signal that required no words and was as unmistakable as the flashing numbers on the scoreboard. Daniel Altmaier toiled hard that evening on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, but he was unable to make up the deficit against Frances Tiafoe, ranked number 16 in the world rankings. The unseeded German Davis Cup player missed the last eight of a Grand Slam tournament in his second attempt.

Altmaier was defeated 3-6, 4-6, 6-7 (4) by the 27-year-old American, who has been among the world's best for years. He knew himself that he had a good chance in the round of 16, and Tiafoe was kind enough to confirm this publicly: It was "a tough match," he said, and the balls flying at him with a lot of spin from the other side of the net had made him sweat. However, from Altmaier's perspective, it took until 0-4 before he was able to fend off the force of Tiafoe's game. In the second set, he conceded a break to make it 3-4, and in the third, he held on until a tiebreak. However, he was never able to match the heights of his opening match, in which he beat Tiafoe's compatriot Taylor Fritz, the world number four. Altmaier had already reached the round of 16 in Paris in 2020. As the season progresses, Altmaier said he wanted to use the positive insights from this tour of France to his advantage.

Because the journey has also ended for doubles players and ATP world champions Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz, who suffered surprise losses to Ivan Dodig/Orlando Luz of Croatia and Brazil, Alexander Zverev is the only remaining German player from the DTB ranks. In the women's singles, doubles specialist Laura Siegemund, 37, continues to hold off the competition. In the mixed doubles competition, she reached the quarterfinals alongside her French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin with a victory over the US duo Melichar-Martinez/Harrison. In the women's doubles, she will face the Italian Olympic champions Jasmine Paolini/Sara Errani in the round of 16 on Monday.