Jule Niemeier reached the round of 16 at the WTA tournament in Linz with some difficulty.
The 23-year-old from Dortmund fought back in her first round match against the American Sofia Kenin and won 2: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4.
Niemeier had problems with her service throughout the game, but she shone all the more on the return.
In the next round, the German number two meets Anastasiya Potapova (No. 8) or Lucia Bronzetti (Italy).
Niemeier, number 71 in the world, converted her fourth match point after 2:12 hours on Monday evening and secured her second win in a young year.
At the Australian Open last month, the Wimbledon quarter-finalist was eliminated in the first round despite a strong performance against world number one Iga Swiatek.
In Linz, the draw is not necessarily good for Niemeier: Kenin is currently only ranked 209th in the tennis world, but the 24-year-old fell as a result of two years of injury. However, she has already impressively demonstrated her skills: in 2020 she won the Australian Open, reached the final of the French Open and the round of 16 of the US Open.
Thanks to Niemeier’s success, four German players are still represented at the hard court tournament in Upper Austria, which is worth around 240,000 euros. Anna-Lena Friedsam, Tamara Korpatsch and Eva Lys will play their first round games on Tuesday and Wednesday.