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Justin Engel is making a name for himself on the ATP Tour, at the age of 17. The 281-ranked German reached his first ATP quarterfinal in Thursday with a 6-4, 6-4 win over American Alex Michelsen, and thus becomes the youngest player to reach an ATP Tour quarterfinal on grass since Boris Becker in 1985.
Nuremberg-born Engel, who is coached by Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber, is now up to 232 in the live rankings and will face Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals
Auger-Aliassime got his first win on grass since 2022, defeating Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, 6-4, 6-4.
With easy power, efficient strokes and excellent movement, Engel took it to his 20-year-old opponent. He won all 31 of his first-serve points against 35th-ranked Michelsen and never faced a break point.
“I played a great match today, and I almost did no mistakes,” he said. “I can’t wait to play the third round.”
He broke once in each set, enough to make his victory without too much stress. Engel, at 17 years and eight months, is also the youngest ATP player to score a win on all three surfaces since Rafael Nadal in 2002
In other action in Stuttgart, top-seeded Alexander Zverev defeated Corentin Moutet 6-2, 7-6(7), while Brandon Nakashima got by Learner Tien 7-6(5), 6-3.