Tennis: Tennis fairy tale over: Out in Wimbledon “Wurded” Siegemund

Laura Siegemund waved disappointed to the audience, knocked on the chest and was proud to go from the Center Court. Despite a long fabulous performance, the 37-year-old missed the next sensation in her Wimbledon fairy tale in a three-set thriller against the top favorite. The great outsider was lost 6: 4, 2: 6, 4: 6 and thus did not make it into her first semi-finals at the classic lawn.

“At the moment I’m just a little disappointed. I could have won if I had done a few things better, that is what worn,” said Siegemund. “I had chances that I didn’t use. But it is a Grand Slam quarter-finals. It is not for nothing that it is number one in the world. Sometimes it is okay not to be perfect.”

Siegemund had the favorite on the edge of a defeat, took the first set of the Belarus in the course of the tournament, but had to give up in the end. The Swabian double specialist received £ 400,000 (around 464,000 euros) for her first Wimbledon quarter-finals.

Sabalenka by stopping

In front of the eyes of the actresses Jodie Foster and Sienna Miller in the Royal Box on the grandstand, victory and her opponent with a sophisticated tactic and showed numerous stops against the powerful Sabalenka. In the end, however, the three-time Grand Slam winner prevailed after 2:54 hours.

“She pushed me so much, she played an incredible tournament and match,” said Sabalenka about victory. “After the first sentence I looked at my box and said: boys, book the tickets. We leave this beautiful city.”

Siegemund, after the former winners Steffi Graf and Angelique Kerber as well as Tatjana Maria, Sabine Lisicki, Julia Görges and Bettina Bunge, would have been the seventh German semi-finalist in the history of the professional tennis in Wimbledon.

Perfect start for victory

At 1.30 p.m. local time, Siegemund took two steps behind the one head larger Sabalenka the sunny Center Court. She “had nothing to lose” and could “get” completely relaxed “to the big task. And she did. The outsider did not shy away the atmosphere in the traditional square – rather she made a perfect start.

“It’s a really nice experience,” she said after the appearance in the largest place in the All England Club. “It is a narrow ridge, I not only wanted to enjoy it, I also wanted to play a good match. I had to stay in the tunnel.”

Sabalenka immediately tried to dominate the game with her mighty serves of up to 190 kilometers per hour. But victory and held against it, repeatedly scattered uncomfortable stops, made a passenger ball in the trap and got the first break. Sabalenka seemed visibly shocked, victory and followed up, put the favorite under pressure.

Spectators cheer for victory

Incorrect murmur of the stands pulled between the points over the Center Court. When the winning of the backhand, the second break made the second break to 3: 0, the spectators enthusiastically cheered the underdog.

Before the game, Sabalenka described her opponent’s style of play as “annoying”. “It is zero fun to play against her because she drives you crazy with her slices,” remembered Andrea Petkovic shortly before the match of her long -time companion and her undercut balls, “And every time you come something else and especially if you think you have your rhythm, she breaks this rhythm.”

Becker raves: “She can rose tennis”

And Sabalenka had an effect. Once she scolded a ball boy and kept shook her head. At 5: 2, Siegemund suddenly wobbled, gave her serve with two double errors. However, she also did not throw this back, after 57 minutes of victory and used her second set ball.

This quality was also enthusiastic about the very big earlier times. “It can be drunken, this is a lost art, there are no longer many people and men who can, and Laura can do that,” enthused the three-time Wimbledon winner Boris Becker in podcast with Andrea Petkovic. “She knows how to move on lawn, how much slice and how much aggressiveness she has to show.”

Anger drives Sabalenka

Sabalenka trudged from the square before the second round, Siegemund hid her head during the break under a towel. This time the favorite initially achieved the better start, but a 0: 2 Siegemund initially did not get out of the concept. “Very strong, come on,” she roared across the square after a mistake by the opponent.

Agrily drog Sabalenka the ball on the lawn after a service loss. There remained a game at a high level, in which, however, the Belarusin had more and more the better answers. The spectacular rallies now mostly won Sabalenka, victory and hardly made any simple points. A backhand error sealed the loss of the second set after almost two hours.

Siegemund took a long break, Sabalenka trained serves to bridge the time. It went back and forth, Sabalenka acknowledged the Break to 3: 4 for victory and with a pointed scream. But the world rankings-104. Leave a game ball to 5: 3 unused, instead Sabalenka turned up and cheered up in the end.