How Did German 17-Year-Old Engel Start His Journey in Stuttgart?

Stuttgart, June 10 (NationPress) Despite having limited grass-court experience, 17-year-old Justin Engel from Germany kicked off his campaign at the Stuttgart Open with a remarkable performance. After dropping the first set, he battled back to secure his place in the second round, leaving the enthusiastic home crowd thoroughly impressed.

Competing in the ATP 250 tournament, the #NextGenATP local favorite Engel overcame qualifier James Duckworth with a score of 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5), marking his inaugural victory on grass courts as a professional. During the decisive set, he found himself trailing by a break at 2-3, but after receiving treatment for dizziness from the tournament doctor, he gathered his strength to complete a comeback victory that lasted two hours and 30 minutes.

"I’m extremely proud of myself. This was my first match on grass here," Engel expressed in his on-court interview. "It was a challenging match, and I’m really pleased with this outcome. I’m eager to compete in the next round."

Engel hit 32 winners compared to Duckworth's 24 in their first ATP head-to-head encounter and won an impressive 75 percent (48/64) of points on his first serve, as reported by Infosys ATP Stats.

As noted by the ATP Tour, Engel, who speaks four languages and has former Top 20 player Philipp Kohlschreiber among his coaches, is now the fourth youngest match winner in Stuttgart Open history, following Fabrice Santoro (aged 16 in 1989 on clay), Rafael Nadal (aged 17 in 2003 on clay), and Rudolf Molleker (aged 17 in 2018 on grass).

With this victory, Engel notched his second tour-level win of 2025, moving up two spots to 11th in the ATP Live Race To Jeddah. The German, who also secured an ATP Tour win in Hamburg last month, will aim to further enhance his chances of qualifying for the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF when he faces either seventh seed Alex Michelsen or Gael Monfils next in Stuttgart.

Another emerging star, Learner Tien, also advanced following his first professional match on grass. The 19-year-old American fought back to even his first-round matchup at 6-7(3), 7-6(3) when his opponent Yoshihito Nishioka retired.

Tien is set to take on his sixth-seeded compatriot Brandon Nakashima next in Stuttgart, where the French trio of Arthur Rinderknech, Quentin Halys, and Pierre-Hugues Herbert also progressed to the second round on Tuesday. Rinderknech upset fifth seed Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 2-6, 6-0, Halys defeated Lorenzo Sonego 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-4, and Herbert led Damir Dzumhur 6-4, 3-0 when Dzumhur retired due to neck pain.