Andrea Petkovic was eliminated in the first round of the Bad Homburg Open. The 34-year-old from Darmstadt lost 1: 6, 2: 6 to world number 12 Darja Kassatkina from Russia in the lawn tennis tournament, which was endowed with around 240,000 euros.
Local hero Petkovic was last eliminated at the grass tournament in Berlin in the round of 16 against Alexandra Sasnowitsch (Belarus), but before that she had surprisingly knocked out former world number one Garbiñe Muguruza (Spain).
Defending champion Angelique Kerber starts the tournament this Monday (4.30 p.m.). The 34-year-old 2018 Wimbledon champion plays against qualifier Anastasia Gasanova from Russia. Kerber did not start in Berlin and chose Bad Homburg as the last preparation for Wimbledon from June 27th to July 10th. She made it to the semifinals last year.
There is a question mark over Sabine Lisicki’s first round match against Olympic champion Belinda Bencic. The Swiss had to give up on Sunday in the final of the grass tournament in Berlin against the Tunisian Ons Jabeur due to injury.