(by Steve Hopkins)
Patrick Franziska and Omar Assar headlined a large field in Dusseldorf this week at the WTT Dusseldorf II Feeder event. Eight players advanced from Qualifying Rounds to slots in the Round of 64. Franziska advanced as expected, but he had no 4-0 wins until the Final. He topped Alexander Chen 4-2, Kim Tahyun 4-1, Kirill Skachkov 4-2, Alexis Lebrun 4-2, and then won the Final 4-0 over Ovidiu Ionescu.
Ionescu was the third seed in the event, so his reaching the Finals was also not a surprise. However, Ionescu needed two different 4-3 comeback wins to reach the Final. Ionescu should have faced Omar Assar in the Semifinal, but Alvaro Robles upset Assar in the Quarterfinals. Apolonia had some solid wins before falling in the Round of 16. Brian Afanador met a similar fate – topping Maksim Grebnev 4-0, but then falling to David Serdaroglu. Ruwen Filus, who had had a great run a week ago in the first feeder event lost his opening match to Rares Sipos.
In Women’s Singles, it was Elizabet Abraamian surprising the field with three upset wins to reach the Final (and an upset win in the Final). She defeated third seed Amelie Solja 4-3 to take the title.
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