Stuttgart, June 10 (IANS) Though he is short on grass-court experience, Justin Engel of Germany made an impactful start at the Stuttgart Open here on Tuesday, fighting back from a set down to make it to the second round and left the cheering home crowd quite impressed.

The #NextGenATP home favourite Engel rallied past qualifier James Duckworth 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) at the ATP 250 tournament to win his first professional match on a grass court. The 17-year-old trailed by a break at 2-3 in the deciding set when he was treated by the tournament doctor for dizziness, but he still summoned the energy to complete a two-hour, 30-minute comeback victory.

“I’m really proud of myself. It was my first grass match here,” said Engel in his on-court interview. “I know it was tough, this match, and I’m pretty happy with this result. I can’t wait to play the next round.”

Engel struck 32 winners to Duckworth’s 24 in the pair’s maiden ATP head-to-head meeting, while he also won 75 percent (48/64) of points behind his first serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

According to the ATP Tour, the 17-year-old, who speaks four languages and counts former Top 20 star Philipp Kohlschreiber as one of his coaches, is the fourth-youngest match winner in the history of the Stuttgart tournament after Fabrice Santoro (aged 16 in 1989, when the event was on clay), Rafael Nadal (aged 17 in 2003 on clay) and Rudolf Molleker (aged 17 in 2018 on grass).

With his second tour-level win of 2025, Engel jumped two spots to 11th in the ATP Live Race To Jeddah. The German, who also notched an ATP Tour win on home soil last month in Hamburg, will bid to boost his Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF qualification chances further when he faces seventh seed Alex Michelsen or Gael Monfils next in Stuttgart.

Another #NextGenATP star, Learner Tien, also advanced after his first pro match on grass. The 19-year-old American had battled back to level his first-round clash at 6-7(3), 7-6(3) when his opponent Yoshihito Nishioka retired.

Tien will take on his sixth-seeded countryman Brandon Nakashima next in Stuttgart, where French trio Arthur Rinderknech, Quentin Halys, and Pierre-Hugues Herbert all also reached the second round on Tuesday. Rinderknech upset fifth seed Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 2-6, 6-0, Halys sank Lorenzo Sonego 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-4 and Herbert led Damir Dzumhur 6-4, 3-0 when the Bosnian retired due to neck pain.

–IANS

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