Stuttgart (AP) – Angelique Kerber did not immediately know the solution to her sporting low either. Even in front of a home audience and at one of her favorite tournaments in Stuttgart, the best German tennis player did not succeed in the hoped-for turn for the better in what has been a weak season so far.
6: 3, 4: 6, 4: 6 Kerber lost her opening game against world number six Anett Kontaveit from Estonia. For the first time she is not in the second round in her tenth main draw participation in the most important German women’s tournament.
“It was such an important tournament for me to play here again in front of a home crowd. The fact that it was so tight here and I didn’t manage to be on the pitch again, that worries me,” said the German number one.
“Sorry I can’t continue playing here”
After the next early defeat, the 34-year-old from Kiel was in a hurry. Just half an hour after losing the last point against Kontaveit, she faced the press. Her black tracksuit suited her mood. She has to process the next setback after a convincing first sentence and due to a too high error rate. “Obviously it’s sad that I can’t continue playing here,” she said.
After the two three-set defeats in Kazakhstan, where she missed the final round in the Billie Jean King Cup with the German selection last weekend, Kerber was looking forward to the performance in Stuttgart. In 2015 and 2016, Kerber won the title here. In the familiar environment, the world number 17 wanted. get rid of their negative trend now.
In front of 2550 of a maximum of 4500 spectators, it looked like she could actually succeed in this complicated opening task. At the beginning, the three-time Grand Slam winner played aggressively and forced her game on the not outstanding Stuttgart finalist from 2019. Twice Kerber took the serve from the 26-year-old to 1-0 and 4-1. She then lost two games in a row, but confidently secured the first round.
Kontaveit does not suit Kerber as an opponent
However, winning the set did not give the 2016 Australian Open and US Open winner any security. She looked questioningly in the direction of her box when she had to accept the set equalization that resulted from an early deficit in the second round. At Kerber, the error rate had increased. When she had to accept the early break with a double fault in the last set, Kerber waved it off. From 1:4 she fought her way back, but the turnaround was no longer successful. Kontaveit was also an opponent in recent years who did not suit her: Kerber only won one of six games.
After her preparation, which was impaired by a corona infection, the former world number one has not yet reached her top form this season. The 2018 Wimbledon winner lost her opening game at the Australian Open and two other tournaments. The only two victories of the season so far have only come in Indian Wells. Kontaveit was also an opponent in recent years who did not suit her: Kerber only won one of six games.
Siegemund demands favorite Sakkari
Swabian Laura Siegemund, on the other hand, has a chance of reaching the quarter-finals against the favored Greek Maria Sakkari on Thursday (not before 5 p.m. / Eurosport) in Stuttgart. The 2017 tournament winner won her opening match against Tamara Zidansek from Slovenia 6: 3, 6: 3 and thus returned with a respectable success after her knee operation last year. “You can’t imagine how much the victory means to me,” said the Swabian. Tamara Korpatsch also plays against British US Open winner Emma Raducanu.
Off for Lys: “The dream goes on for me”
Eva Lys was knocked out in the round of 16. In the biggest match of her young tennis career so far, the qualifier from the Hamburger Club an der Alster had no chance at 1: 6, 1: 6 against the Polish world number one Iga Swiatek. “Her intensity blew me away from the first second,” Lys summed up: “It was incredible to be able to compete with such a player. I had moments when I was able to assert my tennis, which gives you a lot of self-confidence.”
The week of qualifying and her surprise coup in her WTA peloton debut in the first round against the world number-38. Viktorija Golubic from Switzerland was a success for her. “The dream goes on for me,” she said. “The week will take me a lot further. I don’t want to stop with this week.”