The start for the German tennis professionals in New York couldn’t have been better. Five Germans were in action, all of them progressed – but sometimes had to fight hard for it.
Five games, five wins – the German tennis pros have with the US Open got off to a perfect start in New York. Led by co-favorite Angelique Kerber A German quintet made it into the second round at the last Grand Slam tournament of the season.
“It was a German day on the first day of the US Open,” said the tennis legend Boris Becker satisfied as an expert in the TV channel Eurosport. Kerber was on the verge of collapse. The three-time Grand Slam tournament winner Dajana Jastremska struggled with a lot of effort Ukraine after losing the first set in 2:25 hours 3: 6, 6: 4, 7: 6 (7: 3) down. “It was a roller coaster ride,” said Kerber after the show of strength. In large parts of the game, Jastremska “just put them under so much pressure that I couldn’t play my game”. But despite being behind in the third set, she fought her way back and finally decided the tiebreaker with nervousness.
The 33-year-old is now facing another Ukrainian in Anhelina Kalinina. At the French Open, Kerber had clearly lost in two sets against the 24-year-old. “In any case, I still have an account to be settled,” said the German tournament hope.
Petkovic effortlessly
Andrea Petkovic had significantly less trouble than Kerber. The 33-year-old Darmstadt woman prevailed against Irina-Camelia Begu from Romania with 6: 2, 7: 6 (7: 3). “I think I played a very solid first set,” said Petkovic after the game. Petkovic now meets ex-Wimbledon winner Garbiñe Muguruza from Spain. Due to the recent successes, the Hessian is really enjoying tennis again. “As long as I still have the fire, you still have a little on my cheek,” said Petkovic on the TV channel Eurosport.
In the men’s category, a German trio made it into round two. Old hand Philipp Kohlschreiber benefited at 6: 7 (4: 7), 6: 7 (3: 7), 6: 2, 6: 1, 2: 0 from the injury-related abandonment of Marin Cilic. The Croatian won the US Open in 2014 and was seeded at number 30 this year.
Surprise from Gojowczyk
“Lucky for me, bad luck for him,” said Kohlschreiber, commenting on his progress and also referred to the humid temperatures that apparently made his opponent to create. Nevertheless, the Augsburg resident, who lives in Kitzbühel, was satisfied with his appearance. “It was a deserved victory,” said Kohlschreiber. “Now I have to pull out the positive things and take them to the next round.” Kohlschreiber now meets the Spaniard Pablo Andujar.
Qualifier Peter Gojowczyk won against number 23 seeded French Ugo Humbert 1: 6, 6: 1, 6: 2, 5: 7, 6: 4 and is now playing against the Serbian Dusan Lajovic. Dominik Koepfer also had to go over five sets. The Davis Cup professional beat the Frenchman Quentin Halys 6: 4, 3: 6, 4: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4 and now faces the number two seeded Russian Daniil Medvedev.
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