Michael Agwi's big week ends at last eight stage in Hamburg

BOWING OUT: Michael Agwi's Hamburg challenge has come to an end in the quarter-finals. Pic: Kieran Ryan-Benson

Ireland’s Michael Agwi’s impressive run in his first-ever ATP Challenger event has come to an end in the quarter-finals.

A 6-4 6-3 Friday loss to Frenchman Clement Chidekh, who has an impressive record this year having won two recent ATP Challenger events to achieve a highest career ranking to date of 320, brought a big week to a halt.

This was Agwi’s first ATP Challenger event to play as a single player – he featured in doubles with compatriot Osgar O’Hoisin at the Dubai Duty Free Open - having received a wild card to play and he grasped the opportunity with both hands.

He started the week by overcoming Filipo Peliwo of Poland 6-0 6-2 and then Great Britain's Harry Wendelken 6-2 3-6 6-3 to make the main draw.

Turkish player Cel Ilkel was dismissed 6-0 6-2 in just 56 minutes before he defeated No. 8 seed Marc Andrea Huesler of Switzerland in a two-hour battle, 6-4 5-7 6-4. Huesler is ranked 199th in the world with a career high of 47th in 2023.

To put all that in perspective, Agwi started the calendar year ranked in the 1100s but had brought that down to 758th before this week after a positive start to 2024. 

His results in Hamburg will shave more off that again.

Agwi, Dublin-born and Berlin-based, made a huge impact on the home crowd at the University of Limerick last month when he starred for Ireland in their Davis Cup tie against an Austrian team boasting two bona fide stars.

He was coming off his first ever ‘Futures’ final in Germany in January when he faced Dominic Thiem, the former world number 3 and 2020 US Open champion, in the opening singles match, and led 6-3 in a first set tiebreak before losing the match 7-6 6-3.

The 20-year-old then fell to Lucas Meidler 10-8 in the third and deciding set a day later. 

It was a glimpse of the undoubted potential that resides in a player who can boast a booming serve and a strong forehand.