Andrea Petkovic celebrated her place in the quarter-finals with a little dance, while Nicola Kuhn limped off the pitch. As a big outsider, the 22-year-old tennis pro missed the sensation against young star Carlos Alcaraz in round one at the European Open in Hamburg.
In 2:26 hours, Kuhn lost 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.
In the evening, Daniel Altmaier (23) failed to advance to the round of 16 with a 6:2, 4:6, 2:6 against Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo. This means that of a total of eleven German professionals who started in Hamburg, only Petkovic is still there.
With a stable performance, the 34-year-old 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,” said Petkovic. The opponent of last year’s finalist, 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 one of the reasons why I’m still here,” said Petkovic.
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. “I hope to be back soon. I’ll keep fighting,” said the 32-year-old Lisicki after her third WTA tournament since her comeback after a long injury break.