Laura Siegemund covered her face with her hands, then sank to the ground with an incredulous look: the world number 97. caused one of the biggest surprises at the Australian Open and continued the successful run of German women’s tennis.
In the second round, Siegemund beat Chinese Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen 7:6 (7:3), 6:3. Tatjana Maria, on the other hand, lost clearly to Clara Tauson.
The 36-year-old Siegemund converted her match point after 2:16 hours and moved into the third round in Melbourne for the third time in her career. There she meets Anastassija Potapova or her Russian compatriot Anastassija Pavlyuchenkowa.
“I knew that I had to play more than my best tennis. I had nothing to lose,” said Siegemund: “She is one of the best players, but I know that I can play well and wanted to prove that to myself.”
Siegemund gave last year’s finalist a strong fight from the start. In front of national coach Torben Beltz, the Metzinger also played well in a high-class tie break and clinched the first set after 80 intense minutes.
Tennis: Siegemund makes Zheng nervous
Siegemund was also at his best in the second round and got two early breaks. Zheng, fifth in the world rankings, became increasingly nervous, argued with the referee and made several double faults. The actual doubles expert Siegemund (winner of the US Open 2020) couldn’t miss her victory.
Maria, on the other hand, had no chance from the start in the 2:6, 2:6 against the Dane Tauson. The 37-year-old from Bad Saulgau failed to make it into the third round in Melbourne in her twelfth attempt. Due to the defeat, Maria missed a duel with world number one Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus.
Jule Niemeier, who will face Marta Kostjuk (Ukraine) on Wednesday morning (CET), and Eva Lys also won their opening games in what was, from a German perspective, a perfect first round. As the “lucky loser” of the qualification, Lys benefited from a spontaneous submission by Anna Kalinskaja and beat Kimberly Birrell from Australia with virtually no preparation – she will face Varvara Gracheva (France) in the second round.
Source: www.sport.de
