The tennis year is rapidly coming to an end: The 2023 German Championships are currently taking place in Biberach an der Riß. The favorites have hardly shown any weakness so far – with one exception.
With top seed Noma Noha Akugue (number 177 in the world), Stephanie Wagner (number 562), Nastasja Schunk (currently not listed on the tour), Carolina Kuhl (number 464) and Mara Guth (number 572) and Joelle Steur (number 670 ), six of the seven seeded players in the women’s field reached the quarterfinals. Only Fabienne Gettwart surprisingly had to give up on lap one.
Number 612 in the WTA ranking lost to Philippa Preugschat 3:6, 6:4 and 6:7. A small sensation, especially since the 21-year-old Preugschat was rarely able to win a match on the 2023 ITF tour. In the world rankings, Preugschat is outside the top 1500. However, at the German Championships she seems to have found her flow. After a victory over Jana Bögner, Preugschat is even in the quarter-finals. There she meets Wagner.
The only other unseeded quarter-finalist is 16-year-old Victoria Pohle, who defeated Ida Clement and Julia Rennert. Pohle has only played three games on the ITF tour in 2023, but was unable to win any of them.
Tennis: Men’s competition starts with a bang
The top DTB players have also dominated the men’s event so far. Max Rehberg (number 570 in the world), Daniel Masur (number 429), Jochen Bertsch (currently not listed on the tour), Jakob Schnaitter (number 697), Lewie Lane (number 727) and Kai Lemstra (number 842) all mastered theirs Opening hurdle.
Lemstra even qualified for the round of the last eight thanks to a clear win against outsider Edison Ambarzumjan (6:3, 6:1).
In the quarterfinals, Lemstra will face Rehberg, who defeated Timo Gentzsch (number 637 in the world) in three rounds (6:3, 5:7 and 6:2).
However, the men’s competition experienced a bang right at the start: Marko Topo (number 384 in the world) lost to number one seed Patrick Zahraj (number 961 in the world) in three sets (6:3, 6:7, 2:6).