On the sofa, women’s national coach Barbara Rittner experienced a “good day” in front of the television with a view of the grass classic in Wimbledon.
Due to a corona infection, the 49-year-old currently has to do without a trip to London, but was happy about the entry of three German tennis players around Angelique Kerber into the third round of the Grand Slam tournament. Rittner tells the German Press Agency what she believes the winner of 2018 is capable of, what significance Jule Niemeier’s sensational success has and why Tatjana Maria’s lawn game is so special.
Rittner about…
…Angelique Kerber (34) – 6: 3, 6: 3 against Magda Linette from Poland: “She did it in an impressive manner. She’s one of the best players in the world on grass and is very, very confident. With a solid 6:3, 6:3, she didn’t lose strength unnecessarily. Angie is on grass a number in her own right, she can always play at the top. I trust her to do everything at Wimbledon.”
…Jule Niemeier (22) – 6: 4, 6: 0 against the third in the world rankings, Anett Kontaveit from Estonia: “Jule played her best tennis on the big stage at the right time. That will give her a lot of self-confidence for the rest of the tournament, but also for her career in general. She has the game: She can serve well, has a powerful forehand, the backhand “Slice, she can go to the net, has a good feeling in her hand. I think she can play with the best on any surface on a good day. Now it’s about being able to access that more and more consistently and making the way towards the top 50 or find further up.”
…Tatjana Maria (34) – 6:3, 1:6, 7:5 against Sorana Cirstea from Romania: “It was a masterpiece of tactics, she just loves to play on grass. In Tadde-style (Maria’s nickname), she repeatedly threw in shorter slice balls with really great finesse that the opponent didn’t like at all. In Paris she lost against Cirstea.”