Australian Open
Maria and Siegemund fight in round two in Melbourne
Tatjana Maria has reached the second round of the Australian Open. photo
© Frank Molter/dpa
Laura Siegemund and Tatjana Maria are once again showing great fighting spirit in Melbourne. This means that three German tennis players are already in round two.
With great fighting spirit, Tatjana Maria and Laura Siegemund reached the second round at the Australian Open.
Maria (36) won her opening game in Melbourne against Camila Osorio from Colombia 7:5, 6:7 (4:7), 6:4 and also defied temporary circulatory problems. Siegemund (35) prevailed against number 17 seeded Russian Jekaterina Alexandrowa 6:2, 3:6, 7:6 (11:9).
At the start on Sunday, Tamara Korpatsch had already survived the first round. Qualifier Ella Seidel, however, was eliminated.
Maria made up for a 1:5 deficit in the first set, then gave up a 5:2 lead in the second round and lost the set in the tiebreak. The German number one then had to be treated for minutes at high temperatures of around 30 degrees because she had apparently developed circulatory problems in the heat.
However, the mother of two survived the weak phase and was the dominant player again in the third section. After 2:52 hours, Maria converted her first match point and then leaned against the net, completely exhausted. She is now dealing with the Italian Jasmine Paolini.
Siegemund started strong in hot Melbourne and took the first set without any major problems. After that she had difficulties with her serve and couldn’t even get her service through in the entire second set. The decision was made in the third set, where Siegemund initially trailed. But the world number 78 never gave up and was rewarded in the end for a great effort of will. Then she screamed her joy loudly and jumped into the air. Siegemund will now face the Australian qualifier Storm Hunter.