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Altmaier Roland Garros 2020
Roland Garros, Tennis News

German qualifier Daniel Altmaier breezes past Matteo Berrettini to reach fourth round at Roland Garros


German qualifier Daniel Altmaier continued his impressive run at Roland Garros to defeat No 7 seed Matteo Berrettini in straight sets to reach the fourth round. 

The 22-year-old has had a dream start in his first ever major, beating Feliciano Lopez and Jan-Lennard Struff in straight sets before inflicting the same punishment on World No 8 Matteo Berrettini 6-2 7-6(5) 6-4 in his first top 10 encounter.

The German, ranked 186 in the world, took just over two hours to dispatch the Italian No 1, breaking Berrettini on four occasions to record a comprehensive victory on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Altmaier joins Sebastian Korda and Janik Sinner as the next player to reach the fourth round on his Paris debut and becomes just the fourth man to reach the round of 16 on his Grand Slam debut since 2000.

Just 20 months ago, the German had fallen out of the ATP Rankings after chronic abdominal and shoulder injuries left his career in major doubt. The 22-year-old has referenced his work on the Challenger tour as the catalyst for his impressive run in his first major: “I played a lot of matches in the past weeks and that was the most important thing coming here to Roland Garros” Altmaier said.

“We were working so hard for the past year to be here. I have been struggling with injuries but it feels great to finally arrive here and battle against the top guys. Personally Roland Garros is special because when I arrived I didn’t know that I was going to compete”.

The young German will now face the winner of the Spanish battle between Roberto Bautista Agut and US Open semi-finalist Pablo Carreno-Busta to earn a potential quarter final meeting with World No 1 Novak Djokovic.


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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.