The rain in Wimbledon will cause Jule Niemeier and Alexander Zverev to postpone their next match. Hanfmann and Maria are out, but for a “lucky loser” the journey continues.
The 35-year-old Maria lost in rainy London on Wednesday (July 5th, 2023) against Sorana Cirstea from Romania 1: 6, 6: 2, 3: 6 and was the second German tennis player to miss the second round of the classic grass court.
In the fifth duel with number 37 in the world rankings, Maria, who was 62nd in the WTA ranking, was quickly 1:5 behind, after a rain break of almost an hour the first set was gone. After a second rain break she played more stable, then the much more active Romanian dominated again. After 1:37 hours of play, Cirstea converted her first match point.
Hanfmann loses at game continuation
After a long wait, Yannick Hanfmann missed a big surprise in Wimbledon. The 31-year-old from Karlsruhe was beaten 4:6, 6:2, 6:4, 5:7, 3:6 in the continuation of his interrupted first round match against world number ninth Taylor Fritz (USA). Hanfmann’s opening match in All England Club had already started on Monday, but was then interrupted in the fifth set due to the onset of darkness. The next day the game could not continue due to rain in London.
Germany’s tennis player Yannick Hanfmann in action.
“Lucky Loser” Korpatsch continues
Tamara Korpatsch from Hamburg, on the other hand, took advantage of her unexpected chance: The 28-year-old number 122 in the world rankings, who only subsequently moved into the main draw as a “Lucky Loser”, defeated Carol Zhao from Canada 1: 6, 6: 4, 6: 2 and stands at her fifth Grand Slam– Participation for the first time in the second round. There she meets, somewhat surprisingly, Serbia’s Natalija Stevanovic, who won 6-2, 6-3 against number 18 seeded Karolina Pliskova from the Czech Republic.
Djokovic, Tsitsipas and Medvedev in round two
Co-favorite Daniil Medvedev easily reached the second round. The 27-year-old Russian defeated British wildcard player Arthur Fery 7-5, 6-4, 6-3. The game was postponed by a day on Tuesday due to constant rain. Last year Medvedev did not play at Wimbledon because professionals from Russia and Belarus were excluded because of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. This year they are allowed to play again as neutral athletes.
On Wednesday evening, Serbian Novak Djokovic defeated Jordan Thompson from Australia 6: 3, 7: 6 (7: 4) and 7: 5. Jannik Sinner (Italy) was also able to easily defeat Argentinian Diego Sebastian Schwartzman 7:5, 6:1 and 6:2 and is already in round three.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, seeded No. 5, had to beat Dominic Thiem from Austria in a difficult 3: 6, 7: 6 (7: 1), 6: 2, 6: 7 (5: 7), 7: 6 (10: 8). go a long way. The Greek now meets British tennis legend Andy Murray. “I don’t expect anyone to support me”Tsitsipas said with a smile after his match.
rain disruptions mess up the schedule
Also the third tournament day in All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club was again marked by many interruptions and delays due to rain. Olympic champion Alexander Zverev completed a short training session in the drizzle in the morning, otherwise the German number one, like everyone else, had to wait, wait, wait again. Zverev’s first round game against qualifier Gijs Brouwer from the Netherlands was scheduled for the late afternoon. But then the next cancellation in the evening. The opening game of the tennis Olympic champion is now to be played this Thursday (July 6th, 2023).
The second-round match between Nuremberg qualifier Maximilian Marterer and American Michael Mmoh has already been postponed to Thursday due to the time delay. Jule Niemeier also has to wait. Her first round game against the French Open finalist Karolina Muchova from the Czech Republic was canceled and postponed on Wednesday – for the second time.