Dhe successful performance by local hero Laura Siegemund at the tennis tournament in Stuttgart ended in the quarter-finals. The 34-year-old Swabian was eliminated on Friday after beating Lyudmila Samsonova 5-7, 3-6 from Russia. Siegemund missed a good chance of her third semi-final after 2016 and 2017 at the most important German women’s tennis tournament. She made too few mistakes against the powerful, unseeded Russian. Since winning the title five years ago, no German participant has been in the semi-finals of the clay court tournament.
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This year’s event, which is endowed with 611,210 euros, promises world-class tennis on the final weekend – but without German participation. The world number one Iga Swiatek from Poland or the British US Open winner Emma Raducanu compete against Samsonowa in the semifinals. The other game will be played by the Spanish world number two Paula Badosa and last year’s finalist Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus.
For the German number one Angelique Kerber it was already over in the first round. That is why Siegemund, as the only remaining German in the field, had carried the hopes. In the quarterfinals she didn’t seem quite as determined and focused as in her two previous appearances. 38 unforced errors in the statistics were an expression of the lack of consistency. “I think it’s the best clay court tennis of my life,” said Samsonova.
support from the audience
Nevertheless, Siegemund can take self-confidence with her into the coming weeks on her favorite surface, sand. After her Olympic exit in Tokyo last summer, she had her knee operated on and has only competed in seven singles since then. In Stuttgart, the tournament winner from 2017 and finalist from 2016 took part thanks to a wildcard – and reported back impressively in the first two rounds.
After a nervous start with two double faults on the first two points, the German hopeful caught up quickly against Samsonowa. A balanced game developed. Siegemund annoyed her opponent with successfully interspersed stop balls, to which her opponent repeatedly had no answer. Supported by the audience in the hall, which was not sold out again, the Metzingerin led 5:4. Her renewed loss of serve to 5: 6 initiated the decision in sentence one.
Samsonowa had previously surprisingly defeated the Czech player Karolina Pliskova. In Berlin last summer she drew attention to herself by winning the title on grass. Siegemund could no longer turn the match. In the second period, the spectators suffered with her again and again when the balls were devious.
