The question of 1 million: how is Elise Mertens’ back?
Our Belgian number 1 was plagued by nagging pain in her lower back. As a result, her first round matches in Rosmalen and Eastbourne had to stop early.
So not ideal preparation. But Mertens quickly showed at Wimbledon that she would sell her skin dearly. After more than fifteen minutes of tennis, a 4-1 lead was on the scoreboard.
First set in your pocket, you would think. But Viktoria Hruncakova put a stop to that. She fought her way back into the game and won a tiebreak. Mertens kept her cool in this. The first set point at 6-2 was immediately the right thing.
After that it was all about Mertens. The number 28 in the world dictated the game from the baseline. With varied tennis she embarrassed her Slovak opponent at times.
The result: 2-0 and a place in the second round. And most importantly, her back seems fine.
“I stepped onto the track with ignorance, because I could only finish 1 match on grass in preparation,” says Elise Mertens after her victory.
“Of course I was also able to train for a week, although it is not the same. So I am happy that I was able to win the first set right away.”
And her injury-prone back also held up. “Today my back was fine,” she laughs.
“I’ve done a lot of exercises in recent weeks and months. After Roland Garros I didn’t touch a racket for two weeks. Eastbourne came just too early, but I’m happy where I am now.”
2023-07-03 20:50:24
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