Being active at the beginning of the points, serving in a variety of ways and returning aggressively – that’s what coach Christopher Kas asked Jule Niemeier for in her third-round match on Saturday (around 11:30 p.m. / Eurosport) at the US Open against the strong Chinese Zheng Qinwen.
“Above all, staying variable is very important to me and I liked it against Putintseva,” Kas told SID. Against Kazakh Yulia Putintseva, Niemeier finally mastered her second task with a convincing 6: 4, 6: 3 in her main round debut.
“I’m very, very curious myself,” said Kas, with a view to the duel against the only 19-year-old Zheng, who reached at least the third round in the third Grand Slam in a row: “It’s like Jule, a player who has improved a lot lately and is playing very good tennis. It will be a really exciting and interesting match.”
Mentally it even tends to get a little easier for Niemeier as the tournament progresses, said Kas: “Because you can take the positive emotions with you and then you’re in the situation that nothing can happen anymore.”
Even if it doesn’t work again, Niemeier then beat Sofia Kenin and Putintseva, won a round for the first time in a hard court Grand Slam and confirmed the quarterfinals in Wimbledon. It goes “on with positive emotions,” said Kas.