First Pre-Olympics Wins Came From Sebastian Baez, Arthur Fils and Holger Rune

Five seeded tennis players successfully completed their first round matches at the European Open held in Hamburg on Tuesday. The fifth-seeded players continued their way in the tournament by defeating their opponents.

Holger Rune performed as the second seed. Rune, who advanced to the fourth round at Wimbledon, won against his opponent Fabian Marozsan by winning both sets with scores of 6-4. Rune came back from the break point four times throughout the match and achieved his 26th victory of the season.

Stating that he had an injury problem after the match, Rune said, “I will see my physiotherapist after the match. I hope to play again on Thursday and I have full faith in it,” and added, “I felt discomfort in my knee during a sprint I did at the beginning of the second set, but I am lucky that I could run.”

Third seed Sebastian Baez defeated Dominik Koepfer 6-2, 6-3. After victories in Rio de Janeiro and Santiago, Baez is aiming to win his third title of the season and second with 500 points.

The opening match of the tournament was a tough one for fifth seed Arthur Fils. 20-year-old Fils won with 5-7, 6-3 and 6-1 after a three-set fight with Jaume Munar. Fils, who reached the semi-finals by beating Casper Ruud here last year, aims to repeat this success.

Seventh seed Luciano Darderi and eighth seed Zhang Zhizhen also advanced. Darderi prevailed over the lucky loser Nick Hardt with scores of 6-1, 2-6, 6-0. Zhang won the match against Thiago Seyboth Wild with sets of 7-6(6), 6-0.

It is known that these tennis players are preparing for the Paris Olympics, which will be held at Roland Garros and where they will represent their countries.