After Interruption: First-Round Loss for Schwärzler

Not an optimal start to the hard court season for Joel Schwärzler!

At the ATP Challenger tournament in Brownsburg, the Vorarlberger loses to Andy Andrade (ATP No. 251) from Ecuador in three sets with 3:6, 7:6, 5:7.

Originally, the match was scheduled for Tuesday. However, due to rain, the match had to be postponed. Play resumed on Wednesday, but was also interrupted due to darkness and rescheduled for Thursday.

The long journey likely took its toll on the 20-year-old. In the first set, he quickly found himself 0:5 down. Although the ÖTV ace recovered somewhat, the set was ultimately beyond saving. Schwärzler also suffered a break at the start of the second set. Then came the interruption due to sunset.

Tie-break remains his forte

With the score at 4:5, Andrade served for the match and even had a match point. Schwärzler fended it off, immediately broke back, and fought his way into a tie-break. In this, the ÖTV ace prevailed. Across all competitions, it was his sixth consecutive tie-break win.

The third set turned into a break-fest. Up to the interim 5:5, both players had lost their serve three times each. The decision came at 5:6. For the fourth time in the set, Schwärzler had to surrender his serve, and Andrade converted his third match point after 2:34 hours.