After Jule Niemeier, Jan-Lennard Struff and Tatjana Maria also fail at the French Open in Paris. Daniel Altmaier creates the first German victory, Anna-Lena Friedsam follows him in round two.
Jan-Lennard Struff shuffled wearily and badly disappointed by Court 13 of the French Open: The day before Alexander Zverev’s first appearance, all the high hopes for the highest-seeded and most recently in-form German professional were already shattered. Tatjana Maria also packed her seven things frustrated after her completely used day – Daniel Altmaier and Anna-Lena Friedsam, on the other hand, had every reason to be happy.
“It annoys me that I didn’t play my best tennis. That wasn’t enough today,” said Struff after his 5: 7, 6: 1, 3: 6, 6: 3, 1: 6 against the strong Czech Jiri Lehecka .
Altmaier, who had won 6: 3, 6: 4, 6: 4 against Swiss Marc-Andrea Hüsler, was very satisfied: “That was solid. A good performance from start to finish,” said the 24-year-old . He now meets the Italian Jannik Sinner, seeded number eight.
Meanwhile, Wimbledon semi-finalist Maria suffered a severe beating. “Such a defeat always hurts. It didn’t let me get into the game at all,” she said after the 6-0, 6-1 defeat in a duel with Beatriz Haddad Maia from Brazil. Maria narrowly escaped the maximum penalty of going home without winning the game.
Friedsam did better with her 6: 3, 3: 6, 6: 4 against the Japanese Nao Hibino – the 29-year-old from Neuwied is the last remaining German player in the competition.
Zverev before a solvable task on Tuesday
A task that can be solved on paper awaits Zverev on Tuesday (approx. 1 p.m. / Eurosport). Against the 294th in the world rankings, Lloyd Harris from South Africa, the Olympic champion, who was out of form recently, wants to take the first step towards old strength in the same place a year after his severe ankle injury. “I’m looking forward to going back on the pitch,” said Zverev at “Eurosport”: “If I find my game 100 percent, it could still be interesting for me here.”
Meanwhile, Maria was unable to reach her performance limit. She gave away the first round in 34 minutes without a chance. The numerous lucky charms from their children did not help, husband and trainer Charles-Edouard shook his head in the box. At Struff it was up and down, Altmaier convinced with a concentrated appearance.
Oscar Otte and Jule Niemeier had already failed at their respective opening hurdles on Sunday. After a disappointing performance, the weak Cologne native had to admit defeat to Grand Slam debutant Alexander Shevchenko from Russia in four sets – Wimbledon quarter-finalist Niemeier despaired of her serve and lost 3: 6, 4: 6 to the favorite top ten player Darya Kasatkina.
Grand Slam record winner Novak Djokovic showed no weakness on Monday. Against the debutant Aleksandar Kovacevic (24 / USA), the Serb only had problems in the third set and finally won 6: 3, 6: 2, 7: 6 (7: 1). Tournament favorite Carlos Alcaraz (Spain) followed suit and won against Italian Flavio Cobolli 6:0, 6:2, 7:5. Alcaraz said after the match that he “felt invincible at times”.