ATP Tour

New to grass? No problem! 17-year-old Engel makes winning start in Stuttgart

Justin Engel may have arrived at the BOSS OPEN a little green on grass-court experience, but that did not stop the #NextGenATP home favourite from making an impact Tuesday in Stuttgart.

Engel rallied past qualifier James Duckworth 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) at the ATP 250 to triumph in 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.”

✨ TEEN SENSATION ✨

17-year-old Justin Engel sends the home crowd crazy as he turns the tables on Duckworth to reach the second round! @boss__open | #BossOpen pic.twitter.com/Dwd43V2C1L

— ATP Tour (@atptour) June 10, 2025

Engel struck 32 winners to Duckworth’s 24 in the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting, while he also won 75 per cent (48/64) of points behind his first serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

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 Stuttgart tournament history 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 PIF 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 next faces Alex Michelsen. The seventh-seeded Michelsen defeated Gael Monfils 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the final match of the day 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 Suttgart, 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.