Jule Niemeier annoyed Iga Swiatek for a long time, but in the end it wasn’t enough for a quarter-finals at the US Open.
Jule Niemeier waved to the audience again in disappointment and then trudged out of the Louis Armstrong Stadium to thunderous applause: After an impressively fearless performance against Iga Swiatek, the German tennis hope just missed the sensational quarter-finals at the US Open.
The 23-year-old from Dortmund demanded everything from the clearly favored world number one and title favorite from Poland on Monday in New York in their 6: 2, 4: 6, 0: 6 defeat up to the third set.
“A great development, it was a great trip for her to the USA. You have to gain experience at that level. The match will take you a lot further,” said national coach Barbara Rittner, who rated Niemeier’s performance highly, at “Eurosport”. -Microphone: “I think it’s very important to evaluate that and say tough: It was full throttle for an hour, we have to get there longer, we’re still working at the same level.” After the first disappointment, Niemeier will feel proud.
It didn’t take much for Niemeier to make it into the top eight for the second time after Wimbledon. Angelique Kerber was the last German player to reach the quarterfinals of the last Grand Slam of the year in 2016, followed by winning the title. Niemeier is not that far yet, but she once again impressively underlined her role as the greatest hope in German women’s tennis.
Her run in New York is paying off for Niemeier. She takes home prize money of $278,000 and significantly improves her world ranking of 108. Niemeier should be in the top 75, and given Angelique Kerber’s baby break, it’s to be expected that she will soon be Germany’s number one.
The powerful athlete was looking forward to the duel with Swiatek. Her remarkable successes against the former Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin, against the world number 38. Julia Putintseva and the highly regarded Chinese talent Zheng Qinweng certainly caused a stir.
Swiatek impressed by “cooler” Niemeier
Rittner was enthusiastic about Niemeier’s courage, who was “really one for the big places”. Now it comes to a clash between “one of the best servers” and “one of the best return players”. That’s what makes the game so exciting.
And with the roof closed because of the rain, Niemeier quickly contributed to increasing the excitement. With her power from the baseline, she not only left a clear impression on the spectators in the 14,000-seat arena – Swiatek also couldn’t cope with the wildly determined German in the first set.
“Swiatek is impressed, that’s quite clear. And Niemeier is very cool,” said Rittner. Niemeier served hard, was quick on her feet and tactically perfectly adjusted by her trainer Christopher Kas. Again and again she used her powerful forehand, but also showed a lot of feeling with stops or unpleasant slice balls.
Swiatek took a quick bathroom break to gather herself after losing her first set of the tournament and tried to take more initiative in the second set. That worked and Niemeier had increasing problems with her serve, which the favorite took advantage of.
This continued in the third set. Swiatek now consistently positioned himself on the baseline and dictated what happened, while Niemeier’s level of frustration grew steadily. She fought bravely, but had to admit defeat.