Kuhn narrowly missed the sensation against Alcaraz
Carlos Alcaraz is the favorite to win in Hamburg
Quelle: Getty Images
Andrea Petkovic celebrated her place in the quarter-finals with a little dance, while Nicola Kuhn limped off the field. As a big outsider, the 22-year-old tennis pro missed the sensation against young star Carlos Alcaraz in the first round at the European Open in Hamburg. On Tuesday, Kuhn lost in 2:26 hours 6: 3, 1: 6, 6: 7 (3: 7) to the Spaniard, who was three years his junior.
World number six Alcaraz is number one at the ATP tournament at Rothenbaum and the big favorite for his fifth tournament win of the year. “I knew it was going to be a tough match. Nicola is a good player, he qualified for the main draw at Wimbledon,” Alcaraz praised his opponent.
Kuhn with injury problems
Kuhn, who used to start for Spain, showed a brave and strong performance for a long time. In the third set he had his right thigh treated several times, could only walk with difficulty and then had no chance in the final tie-break. For Kuhn it would have been the first win on the ATP tour since January 2021.
Andrea Petkovic is in good shape – despite frequent elbow pain
Source: dpa
For women, the 34-year-old Petkovic is the only German tennis player still in the running for the Rothenbaum title. With a stable performance, she defeated the Japanese Misaki Doi 6: 4, 6: 3 at temperatures of around 34 degrees in the round of 16. “It was heated, metaphorical and on the pitch,” Petkovic said. The opponent of last year’s finalists seeded number eight in the round of the top eight will only be determined on Wednesday.
It could go against the world number two Anett Kontaveit from Estonia. “That would be really cool. I love playing against the best in the world. That’s also a reason why I’m still here,” said Petkovic.
Jule Niemeier has to say goodbye
Jule Niemeier had previously lost 4:6, 6:0, 4:6 against Joanne Züger from Switzerland and Sabine Lisicki 4:6, 2:6 against Alexandra Krunic from Serbia in the first round of the clay court tournament.
The 22-year-old Dortmunder Niemeier recently celebrated the greatest success of her career by reaching the quarter-finals in Wimbledon. In view of the intense past week, her team had actually advised against starting in Hamburg. “I really wanted to play and now I got the receipt for it. I will also learn from that,” said Niemeier. Before the hard court season in North America, she now wants to take a good week off from training.
At her third WTA tennis tournament after a long injury break, Lisicki had fought her way through qualification, but made too many mistakes. “I hope to be back soon. I’ll keep fighting,” said the Berliner.
This means that of the six German players who started in Hamburg, only Petkovic is still there, and nine of the eleven Germans in the women’s and men’s teams are already out.
