“Just complete crap”
Kohlschreiber was far from entering the third round for the eighth time in his 16th participation at the Australian Open. Here was the long-time Davis Cup-Player entered the match with a 3-2 record against Bautista Agut. But on Thursday he just ran behind from the start. “I’m very rarely speechless. But I can’t say what the problem was”said Kohlschreiber: “It was just two left shoes today. I can’t explain why I didn’t have the timing. I can only dismiss the defeat with a smile. It was just complete crap today.”
Completely without a chance
Kohlschreiber delivered the first sentence in just 23 minutes, the second round lasted only five minutes longer. He couldn’t find a remedy against the highly concentrated and clever Spaniard, Kohlschreiber couldn’t exert any pressure with his serve and struggled a lot with the precision of his shots. Only in the third set could the German put up more resistance, with the Break to 3:2 Bautista Agut finally set the course for victory.
A total of twelve German professionals competed in the individual competitions in Melbourne. For the women’s trio around Angelique Kerber it was even over in lap one. Zverev will fight against the qualifier Radu Albot (Moldova) on Friday for a place in the round of 16.
Muguruza fails early
The title dreams of the two-time Grand Slam-Winner Garbine Muguruza met a surprisingly early end. The Spanish favorite and third in the world rankings lost 3:6, 3:6 against the unseeded French player Alize Cornet and was eliminated in the second round. In 2020 she had reached the final in Melbourne. Muguruza won the 2016 French Open and a year later Wimbledon, before falling far down the world rankings. Last year she then reported back to the top of the world, winning titles in Chicago and Dubai before the 28-year-old at the in November WTA finals triumphed in Guadalajara.
Kontaveit out too
Estin Anett Kontaveit, who was in such good form recently, surprisingly missed the entry into the third round. The 26-year-old, who has moved up to seventh place in the world rankings with extremely strong performances in recent months, was beaten by 19-year-old Clara Tauson from Denmark 2: 6, 4: 6. World number two Aryna Sabalenka also had to fight hard. In the first set alone, the Belarusian made twelve double mistakes against the Chinese Wang Xinyu, but she prevailed 1:6, 6:4, 6:2 and advanced to the third round. Former French Open winner Iga Swiatek (Poland) is also there after beating Rebecca Peterson from Sweden 6-2, 6-2.
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Status: 01/20/2022, 07:08