Australian Open: German women’s power: Siegemund and Niemeier also continue

One in a marathon match, the other in a quick run: Laura Siegemund and Jule Niemeier reached the second round of the Australian Open in very different ways and perfected the flawless opening result of the German tennis players.

Since Tatjana Maria had also won her first round match, all three German players who started in the main field survived the opening hurdle at the Grand Slam tournament in Melbourne. “This is of course a perfect start,” said the new women’s national coach Torben Beltz to the German Press Agency. For the long-time coach of the former world number one Angelique Kerber, the successes are also “the best medicine against criticism of German women’s tennis”.

Struff and Koepfer fail

Among the German men, no one has been able to follow world number two Alexander Zverev into the second round. The Warsteiner Struff had largely no chance in the 3:6, 0:6, 6:4, 1:6 against number 29 seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. “It was a used day,” said the Davis Cup player.

Qualifier Dominik Koepfer gave the Australian favorite Jordan Thompson a tough fight, but had to admit defeat 6:7 (3:7), 4:6, 6:4, 3:6.

Siegemund: “Squint your ass cheeks”

Siegemund made it exciting. The 36-year-old was only able to celebrate a hard-fought 4:6, 7:5, 6:4 against the American Hailey Baptiste after 3:16 hours. Sometimes you have to “keep your ass together and fight,” said the Swabian at Eurosport. She was “simply proud” of herself, even if the marathon match was marked by numerous mistakes. Both opponents received a total of 15 breaks.

In the second round, Siegemund will face Chinese tournament favorite Zheng Qinwen. The doubles specialist did not want to look ahead to the big challenge. The world number 97 said she wanted to take the time to “enjoy what’s going on”: “I don’t feel like dealing with the next opponent 30 seconds after a match.”

Niemeier still has a lot planned

Niemeier had significantly less trouble at her start. The Dortmund player gave Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska no chance with a 6-0, 6-1 win in just 74 minutes and moved into the second round in Melbourne for the first time. But that shouldn’t be the end yet.

“From the start to the last point, it was a high quality from my side,” said the 2022 Wimbledon quarter-finalist, who wants to attack again after a few setbacks in recent years. She emphasized: “I definitely didn’t come here to win a round.”

Beltz likes these statements: “It shows that she has the right mindset.” The 25-year-old Niemeier will now play against the number 17 seeded Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk. Maria will face Denmark’s Clara Tauson in round two.

“Once the girls get going, they can really achieve something here,” said Beltz. The national coach said that he “didn’t want to place too much emphasis on the good performances of the German players so far,” said the national coach: “But the focus is absolutely there.”