Germany’s Mark Lamsfuss/ Isabel Herttrich have had possibly the best Denmark Open of all the winners, making a big statement on the European mixed doubles stage. But they want more.
In the quarterfinal, they defeated the top Danish pair, Mathias Christiansen/ Alexandra Bøje, on home soil, and then in the semifinal and final, they got the better of the two English pairs, Marcus Ellis/ Lauren Smith and Chris Adcock/ Gabrielle Adcock, who sit atop the European tree.
-It definitely does not get much better than that here, but in the future, we will have some other pairs from Asia as well. Of course, we are happy, but we need to step up against these really strong Asian pairs, but it was a good week for us, Lamsfuss mused.
Not satisfied by staking their claim to be regarded as Europe’s number one, they are already looking to Asia. In addition to the natural delight that comes with winning the Denmark Open, defeating the pair that prevented them from getting to the 2018 European Championships final, 25-23 in the decider, just adds to the experience.
The Adcocks, however, started out the stronger, winning the opening game 21-18.
-I think we brought a really good intensity in the first game. We drop that a little and the Germans played really well in the sets after that. We gave a little too many mistakes and obviously, you cannot afford to do that against a pair playing so well, Chris Adcock affirmed.
Asked what they changed in their game to swing the scores in their favour, Herttrich replied.
-Nothing much, the tactics were always the same, which was trying to get on the attack. In the first set, I was a little nervous and shaky, but I stepped up and got into the game. Then it was all about getting the attack and Mark smashing it down.
Ready for this one
Following a stellar week for the Germans, they have a welcome opportunity to consolidate this form at their home tournament, the SaarLorLux Open, in two weeks. Replying to the claim that this tournament is surely theirs for the taking, Herttrich says.
-It's not surely in the bag, but we are looking forward to that tournament. Unfortunately, only one left for this year. We will focus on our home tournament, as I really love playing there, Mark also loves playing there but it has been a while as he been a little bit injured the last few years there, but hopefully not this year and we will be ready for this one.