German Cabrio Open Challenger

Bosselmann wins first time ever crown Hamburg Challenger twice

Lars Bosselmann surprised himself with a double victory in the first time ever played “German Cabrio Open Challenger” in Hamburg, Germany. Bosselmann, taking advantage of playing nearly at home, moved smoothly through the first round, meeting veteran and top seeded Christian Alte (# 30) in the semis. All sports playes out, Bosselmann wins 74-62 and moved into the final, meeting team mate Christian Wiessner, who upset Andrew Kim (#32) in the other semi. Wiessner, ranked # and unseeded in this event, took a 70-58 victory over Canadian Dany Lessard. Lessard, who enjoyed combining the Dutch Open and the Hamburg Challenger with a business trip, was not able to stop Wiessner on his surprisingly successful ride in Hamburg. But in the end, Bosselmann gained a straight win, terminating at 2-2 in tennis.

Just 8 doubles competed in this draw, confirming the excellent shape of Bosselmann/Wiessner. As they entered the final with two straight victories and no tennis necessary, Alte/Lessard had a little more work loosing one squash game. However, in the final Bosselmann/Wiessner were better in all sports than their opponents obviously playing their best these days.

As Hamburg made is debut on the FIR tour, 20 singles and 8 doubles at the first time in mid summer did not meet all expectations at all. But adding roughly 70 rookies, gave the event a very special atmosphere. As tournament directors Torsten Soltwedel and Frank Vonderwall spoke about a satisfying event taking all in consideration, there might be the second edition in 2010, probably attracting even more FIR players visiting Hamburg.

Torsten Soltwedel / August 2nd, 2009