Sportwerk Men’s Open Preview: Rapp Looking Forward To Battles

The Sportwerk Men’s Open begins on Thursday in Hamburg, with the Challenger 10 level tournament following in from the women’s event held at the same venue last week, where Grace Gear came through the field to take the title despite being unseeded.

Like last week, the men’s event will also be regionally restricted due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with only those currently based in Europe being permitted to participate in the tournament.

Frenchman Auguste Dussourd will be the top seed for the event, and he will face competition from Scotland’s Rory Stewart, Welshman Emyr Evans and Spain’s Hugo Varela, all of whom either are, or have been, inside the top 100 in recent months.

Finland’s Henrik Mustonen and Belgium’s Joeri Hapers join the German pair of Valentin Rapp and Yannik Omlor in making up the remainder of the top eight seeds.

We spoke to on Rapp, who currently sits at World No.103, ahead of the tournament, and thanks to the cancellation of the WSF Men’s World Team Squash Championships, which were set to be held in Malaysia earlier this month, he has been able to prepare for this event on home soil.

However, he knows that it will be tough, with plenty of payers all grouped in the same area of the World Rankings in action in Hamburg this week.

“It’s always a great event in Hamburg and good to play on the nice glass court. Due to the unfortunate cancelation of the Men’s World Teams I had now more time to focus on this tournament,” he explained.

“I’m looking forward to good matches and battles. I don’t put myself under too many expectations. Because in such a tight draw a lot is decided by the daily shape [I’m in].”

The event takes place from Thursday 16 to Sunday 19 December at Sportwerk in Hamburg. Follow the PSA Challenger Tour on Twitter and Facebook for daily updates from the event.

Action from Hamburg will be streamed throughout the week on the PSA Challenger Tour YouTube channel, where you can watch Challenger Tour action, and interviews with rising stars.

First Round Draw: Sportwerk Men’s Open
[1] Auguste Dussourd (FRA) – [Bye]
Felix Göbel (GER) v [9/16] Roshan Bharos (NED)
[9/16] Manu Paquemar (FRA) v [WC] Fynn Schuck (GER)
[5] Valentin Rapp (GER) – [Bye]
[6] Yannik Omlor (GER) – [Bye]
[WC] Lennard Hinrichs (GER) v [9/16] Nilo Vidal (ESP)
[9/16] Edwin Clain (FRA) v [WC] Tobias Weggen (GER)
[4] Hugo Varela (ESP) – [Bye]
[3] Emyr Evans (WAL) – [Bye]
Lukas Windischberger (AUT) v [9/16] Jakob Dirnberger (AUT)
[9/16] Fergus Richards (SCO) v Rowan Damming (NED)
[7] Henrik Mustonen (FIN) – [Bye]
[8] Joeri Hapers (BEL) – [Bye]
Marc ter Sluis (NED) v [9/16] Marc Lopez (ESP)
[9/16] Ben Smith (ENG) v Jan Wipperfurth (GER)
[2] Rory Stewart (SCO) – [Bye]