Rain is disrupting the proceedings at Wimbledon. Jule Niemeier is affected by this – and impressed. She resorts to a special aid.
After her Wimbledon mood-lifter in the rain chaos in London, Jule Niemeier beamed with relief. One day after Angelique Kerber’s first-round exit, the 24-year-old from Dortmund mastered the test of patience impressively and, with a delay, advanced unexpectedly smoothly into the second round. Her hopeless Swiss opponent Viktorija Golubic was left helpless after a 6:2, 6:1 win.
“I was very relieved. I think I played a very, very good match,” said the 2022 Wimbledon quarterfinalist happily. “It’s a lot of fun to be able to play here. The quarterfinals two years ago obviously don’t help me much because I obviously want to do better.”
Two German ladies play for round 3
The number 90 in the world improved the German women’s statistics a bit: As the second of the six Germans, she passed her opening test and is now preparing for a difficult task against the Ukrainian Jelina Switolina.
Laura Siegemund from Swabia will face the 2022 Wimbledon champion from Kazakhstan, Jelena Rybakina, as an outsider on Thursday. Olympic champion Alexander Zverev (against Marcos Giron from the USA) will also be up for grabs.
Two years ago, Niemeier celebrated her greatest success to date during a dream Wimbledon week on London’s Church Road. She was unable to confirm the hopes raised and experienced a very difficult year in 2023.
Unlike Kerber: Niemeier loses a bit of the fun
“I lost a bit of the fun in the sport. It’s just difficult when you don’t win many matches,” admitted the 24-year-old. “I didn’t feel good. You want to be successful. Especially after the year before, which was very successful.”
She tried to “just believe that everything will come back because I showed the year before that I can do it.” This helped her to pull herself out of the slump. Now she is happy that she has managed to make a fresh start by changing coach to Michael Geserer. The last year is behind her. “I think you can see that I’m having fun again and that I’m on the right track.”
Niemeier scribbles down thoughts
She also mastered the weather chaos with the rain coming and going, which has been causing problems for the organizers since Tuesday. Niemeier’s first round was postponed from Tuesday to Wednesday and then again for a total of two hours. When Niemeier finally stepped onto the court, the weather only held for two games before the short break. After the resumption, she dominated.
A notebook also helped her against Golubic. However, she did not want to reveal what she wrote in it. “I think it’s very good to write things down, to write down thoughts, to quickly remember things during the match,” explained Niemeier. “Of course, it’s also good to get things off your chest or just scribble down quickly.”
No clear answer from Kerber
Niemeier thus extended her stay at Wimbledon, something that three-time Grand Slam tournament winner Kerber would also have loved to achieve. The 36-year-old sat there with shining eyes after her first-round exit against Kazakhstani Yulia Putintseva and left the question of her future open. She answered neither yes nor no as to whether this was her last Wimbledon appearance.
“I don’t know. I didn’t come here with that thought,” said the former world number one and 2018 Wimbledon champion as she had to digest the low point of her beloved but this time dismal grass season.
“My Tournament”
Kerber, the 2018 tournament winner, spoke emotionally about her Wimbledon story. “When I look at Wimbledon, it feels like my tournament,” said Kerber. “I still have the best moments in my head, and that will remain the case regardless of the match.” Unlike Niemeier, Kerber said she is not losing her fun even with the losing streak. “I’m already hardened to that,” said the Kiel native.
Source: Stern
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