Ella Seidel celebrated a successful debut in the Billie Jean King Cup and took the first step towards staying in the league for the German tennis women.
In the opening match of the play-off duel against Turkey, the 20-year-old talent easily won 6:1, 6:1 against Berfu Cengiz, giving the German women’s national team a 1-0 lead. Germany’s number one, Eva Lys, is the next player to start – and can already complete the success against Turkey.
This would mean staying in the top group is within reach. On Sunday (1 p.m./Tennis.de) the DTB selection will face Belgium. Only the winner of the group of three can play in the elite again next year.
At the home game at the Ismaning Tennis Club, Seidel initially appeared nervous during her debut for the national team. The Hamburger, who rose from 128th to 85th in the world rankings over the course of the season, had to fight hard for her first service game. Afterwards, Seidel lived up to her role as favorite, repeatedly presenting Cengiz with big tasks with long balls to the baseline. Her opponent, number 431 in the world, quickly could no longer withstand this pressure.
After just 28 minutes, Seidel won the first set. In the second round she played her class against the overwhelmed Cengiz and converted her first match point to victory.
On the way to staying in the league, the team around team boss Rainer Schüttler had already suffered a few setbacks – after the short-term absences of Tatjana Maria and Laura Siegemund, the DTB team is missing two top 50 players.