That was a start that Angelique Kerber would have wished for. The German number one tennis woman easily made it to the second round in Bad Homburg and gathered urgently needed match practice before Wimbledon.
Successful start in Bad Homburg: Angelique Kerber.
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Former Wimbledon winner Angelique Kerber fulfilled her duty at the start of the home tournament in Bad Homburg without any problems. With the 6: 1, 6: 1 success in just 50 minutes, the best German tennis player outclassed Russian qualifier Ekaterina Yashina on Monday and made it to the round of 16. There the number 28 in the world will meet Yashina’s compatriot Anna Blinkova on Wednesday.
“In terms of sport, I definitely have a little more plans,” said the Kiel woman after her match in front of around 600 spectators. “I will give everything to get here as far as possible, hopefully to the end, and then go to Wimbledon full of confidence.”
I will give everything to get as far as possible here, hopefully to the end, and then go to Wimbledon with confidence.
The clearly inferior world rankings-293. But Yashina was not yet a standard of what Kerber can be expected to do next week in Wimbledon after her first-round bankruptcies at the Australian Open and the French Open. The left-hander is preparing for the third Grand Slam tournament of the season with two tournaments in a row. In Berlin, the second round was over for her last week.
At the premiere in Bad Homburg, the 33-year-old also has tasks outside of the Center Court as a tournament ambassador. “It’s a very special tournament for me. I’m looking forward to everything that is to come,” said the three-time Grand Slam tournament winner.
Siegemund bites through against outsider Bhatia
In the first round, she was definitely much easier than her Swabian Fed Cup colleague Laura Siegemund. The German number two turned a threatening disappointment with the 2: 6, 7: 6 (7: 2), 6: 1 against the world rankings-362. Riya Bhatia from India still starting. It was only after she had dominated the tie-break in the second set that Siegemund played more confidently against the blatant outsider.
Siegemund only found out about half an hour before her first match of the grass season that she would not be playing against the injured former US Open winner Sloane Stephens from the USA. “I just have a few other difficulties to deal with, which I don’t want to go into further. It was a good match for that,” said the world number 55. from Metzingen puzzling: “It was a grateful story that Sloane canceled and that I had an easier opponent as a result.”
It was a grateful story that Sloane canceled and that it gave me an easier opponent.
Because Siegemund, seeded eighth, will meet Tamara Korpatsch from Hamburg on Tuesday (second game after 12 noon / DAZN), a German participant will definitely reach the quarter-finals. The Darmstadt-based Andrea Petkovic also has the chance to advance against the American Amanda Anisimova. For qualifier Anna Zaja from Sigmaringen the end came with a 0: 6, 4: 6 against Ann Li from the USA.
