Billie Jean King Cup
Niemeier wins top singles: DTB women lead
Brought Germany ahead against Brazil: Jule Niemeier. photo
© Christoph Schmidt/dpa
Jule Niemeier still had to watch on Friday. But because Tatjana Maria was tired, the German number one was used on Saturday. And took her chance.
Jule Niemeier gave the German tennis players a 2-1 lead against Brazil in the Billie Jean King Cup. The German number one won the top individual against the world number 14 in Stuttgart. Beatriz Haddad Maia with 7: 6 (7: 3), 3: 6, 6: 2 and thus justified the nomination of team boss Rainer Schüttler.
Schüttler had preferred Niemeier over Tatjana Maria, who was exhausted after her hard-fought three-set win against Laura Pigossi late on Friday evening and the tournament victory in Bogotá last week. Niemeier converted her first match point against Haddad Maia after a marathon match lasting almost three hours.
Then she fell onto her back and fought back tears. “I was very nervous. I’m very proud of myself and the team,” said the 23-year-old. “We took the momentum from Friday with us.”
Friedsam can make victory clear
The German team is only one point away from reaching the finals in November. In the fourth individual, Anna-Lena Friedsam, who lost in three sets against Haddad Maia on Friday despite a strong performance, has to deal with Pigossi. If there is still no winner after that, the doubles decides on the progress.
Niemeier’s lack of self-confidence after only two wins in 13 games this year was clearly noticeable at first. The Dortmund woman immediately gave up her serve. Only when she also took the service from Haddad Maia to make it 3: 3 did self-confidence return to her game. Although she had to give up her serve again shortly afterwards, Niemeier now played more aggressively and made it into the tie-break. There she came up trumps and won the first set after 78 hard-fought minutes.
In the second round, Niemeier was unable to take advantage of three break chances right at the beginning. Haddad Maia then improved and equalized the set after 2:11 hours. But Niemeier fought back and quickly pulled away in the third section. The rest was pure joy and relief.