All German tennis women out at the French Open

The native of Bonn lost 4: 6, 6: 2, 1: 6 against the number 25 seeded Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu. The defeat of the Fed Cup player was sealed after 2:03 hours.

All ten German women who started were eliminated after the third round. That was last six years ago. National coach Barbara Rittner was accordingly not satisfied with the performance. “Unfortunately, many were not able to play their best tennis here for various reasons,” said the Fed Cup team boss on Friday on the TV channel Eurosport. “Somehow it wasn’t meant to be. It wasn’t our French Open.”

On Saturday talent Alexander Zverev in the match against Austrian Dominic Thiem was the last of the 17 German starters to have a chance of a place in the round of 16.

In the best spring weather, Beck missed five breakballs in the first set with his own mistakes to make it possible 5:3. In second place, Romania’s tennis legend Ilie Nastase also saw how Begu, who had played for three and a half hours on Wednesday evening, suddenly made many mistakes in the second set. The 22-year-old Beck managed to equalize, the world number 39. As at the Australian Open in January, he was now able to think about the round of 16.

Begu took a few minutes off and was greeted with boos by German fans when she returned. In the same place, Tatjana Maria was eliminated under questionable circumstances against the ailing but also theatrical Frenchwoman Alizé Cornet. Begu seemed recovered in the last set, was now the more aggressive player again and didn’t give Beck a chance.

Between Zverev and Thiem it’s not just about a place in the round of 16, but also a possible hit game against nine-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal. At the Stade Roland Garros, Zverev initially wants to take revenge for the defeats against Thiem in the semifinals in Munich and recently in his first ATP final in Nice. There he was tired in the decisive set after a tough tournament week and didn’t have a chance. “That probably won’t be the case on Saturday. He’s an excellent player and it’s going to be really tough on Saturday,” predicted Thiem.

“You can’t compare the match in Nice with here,” emphasized Zverev. After a strenuous program on Thursday, the 19-year-old was able to recover the day before his biggest performance to date at a Grand Slam tournament. After the four-set win over 36-year-old Frenchman Stéphane Robert, Zverev played doubles with Nick Kyrgios, the Australian notorious for his verbal failures. Despite the loss, they both had fun.

Zverev has that with Thiem outside the field, also in virtual football. “We play a lot of FIFA together, so he’s not the better player,” said Zverev with a smile. In the world rankings, the long man from Hamburg is 41st but still 26 places behind the 22-year-old Thiem.

Ladies Draw

Men’s Draw

Schedule from Friday with results