Grasshopper Cup RD1: Steinmann wins battle with Parker, Kandra defeats Swiss Wildcard Wilhelmi

In the evening session on day one of the Grasshopper Cup, Swiss player Dimitri Steinmann beat England’s George Parker in a brutal three-game battle, and World No.36 Raphael Kandra defeated the well-supported home favourite Yannick Wilhelmi.

In the final glass-court match of the day, Swiss No.2 Steinmann played his first match since receiving a conduct game for his actions against Timothy Brownell in the first round of the U.S. Open.

The World No.33 started strong, and took the advantage against Parker in the first game, going 8-2 up.

Parker fought back to 8-5, but the early deficit was too much for the Englishman to overturn as Steinmann took the first game in the best-of-three match.

The World No.54 reacted to going behind, and nothing seperated the two players to 4-4 until Parker upped the match tempo and clinched six straight points to give himself six game balls, of which he converted the second.

In the decisive game, Parker struggled to recover after giving his opponent the advantage, and Steinmann stormed to a dominant lead before taking the final game 11-6.

Speaking after the match, Steinmann talked about playing a tournament in Switzerland.

“It’s always special playing in front of the home crowd, it’s always a big booster to give it your all and I had a bit of a struggle at the beginning of the season to get that first win.

“Now I have it, it’s such a relief and I’m just enjoying it.”

Steinmann also spoke on his opponent and his future clash with fellow Swiss player Nicholas Mueller.

“George [Parker] plays a very physical game, so I knew it was going to be tough. He played really well in the second.

“Nicholas [Mueller] is one of my best friends, on and off the tour, and I think it’s going to be a special moment when we play on the biggest court in Switzerland in front of the biggest crowd – the two best players in Switzerland’s history.

“I can’t wait, I’m already electrified, I want to go so it’s going to be special for sure.”

Local wildcard and World No.74 Yannick Wilhelmi took an early 4-1 lead in the first game of his clash against the German No.1, but 32-year-old Kandra showed his experience as he bedded into the match, winning 10 straight points to take the first game.

Wilhelmi started the second game with as much energy as the first and met the German’s tempo, going point for point to 9-8 in the 23-year-old’s favour.

However, the World No.36 proved to have too much in the end as he won three straight points to progress to a round-two clash with No.6 seed Karim Abdel Gawad.

After the match, Kandra spoke on his round-one performance.

“I’ve never played Yannick [Wilhelmi] before, I didn’t really know what to expect, he’s had some good results recently.

“I think I played well, I was confident on the T, sneaked the first game pretty confidently and the second was pushing very hard until the end. It felt quite equal and I’m just happy to get through in two.”

Kandra also talked about playing against someone with as much home support as Wilhelmi garnered.

“I’ve played many many matches on that court, especially as I used to play for the team here. I knew there was going to be a lot of roaring on his side, but also because it’s not far from the border so there’s a lot of Germans as well.

“I was just trying to focus on the match, and it worked out today so I’m glad I got through.”

In the other evening matches, Katie Malliff retired injured against Georgia Adderley after going ahead by a game, Jasmine Hutton took out Swiss wildcard Cindy Merlo in 16 minutes and Scotland’s Rory Stewart was defeated by France’s Auguste Dussourd after coming in late to replace Charlie Lee.

Mariam Metwally beat Canadian Nicole Bunyan as the World No.49’s wait for a first win of the season continues and in the penultimate men’s match, Iker Pajares Bernabeu beat last-minute call-up Lucas Serme in two games.

In the final women’s match of round one, 17-year-old Egyptian Fayrouz Abouelkheir beat France’s Marie Stephan in two comfortable games.

For more information on the Grasshopper Cup, visit the PSA website or follow the PSA on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube to go behind the scenes in Zurich.

Results: Men’s RD1 – Evening session:

Auguste Dussourd (FRA) bt Rory Stewart (SCO) 2-0: 11-7, 11-6 (27m)
Raphael Kandra (GER) bt [WC] Yannick Wilhelmi (SUI) 2-0: 11-4, 11-9 (29m)
Iker Pajares Bernabeu (ESP) bt Lucas Serme (FRA) 2-0: 11-8, 11-5 (31m)
Dimitri Steinmann (SUI) bt George Parker (ENG) 2-1: 11-5, 5-11, 11-6 (40m)

Results: Women’s RD1 – Evening session:

Jasmine Hutton (ENG) bt [WC] Cindy Merlo (SUI) 2-0: 11-2, 11-7 (16m)
Georgia Adderley (SCO) bt Katie Malliff (ENG) 2-1: 4-11, 6-4 retired (21m)
Mariam Metwally (EGY) bt Nicole Bunyan (CAN) 2-0: 11-7, 11-8 (19m)
Fayrouz Aboelkheir (EGY) bt Marie Stephan (FRA) 2-0: 11-4, 11-4 (13m)