After a strong start, Jule Niemeier had no chance against the number one in the world in the 4th round of the US Open.
Jule Niemeier missed a big surprise in the round of 16 of the US Open. The 23-year-old from Dortmund lost to the clearly favored world number one Iga Swiatek from Poland on Monday in New York despite a long and convincing performance 6: 2, 4: 6, 0: 6.
“At the moment there are still mixed feelings. There is still a lot of frustration.”said Niemeier: “If I reflect on it over the next few days, I should be proud too.”
Wimbledon quarter-finalist Niemeier kept up well until the end of the second set, then lacked the strength to continue to stand up to the two-time French Open winner and title favorite in the first meeting.
Barbara Rittner enthusiastic
“How fearlessly she imposes her own game on Iga Swiatek, how cool she stays – I’m absolutely thrilled”said national coach Barbara Rittner at Eurosport about Niemeier’s strong performance at the Louis Armstrong Stadium for a long time: “She ruled the number one in the world for an hour. After that, she ran out of strength.”
Angelique Kerber was the last German player to reach the quarterfinals of the last Grand Slam of the year in 2016, followed by winning the title.
Lots of money, lots of points
For Niemeier, the top German player in this year’s tournament, reaching the round of 16 in only her third major remains a win. This is worthwhile for Niemeier. She takes home prize money of $278,000 and significantly improves her world ranking of 108.
Tiafoe impresses against Nadal
From the dream of the 23rd Grand Slam title: Rafael Nadal failed in the round of 16 of the US Open. The 4: 6, 6: 4, 4: 6, 3: 6 defeat against the American Frances Tiafoe also puts a question mark over the Spaniard’s possible jump to the top of the world rankings. The Norwegian Casper Ruud and Nadal’s compatriot Carlos Alcaraz could outperform the veteran with a final in New York.
Nadal, who won the title in Melbourne and Paris this year, must also accept the end of his strong streak after 22 successful games at majors this year. In Wimbledon, he was unable to compete in his semi-final match due to an abdominal muscle injury. In the all-time Grand Slam leaderboard, he continues to rank with 22 trophies ahead of Serbian Novak Djokovic (21 major titles) and Swiss Roger Federer (20).
Frances Tiafoe, 24, is the youngest male US tennis pro to reach the quarterfinals of the US Open since Andy Roddick in 2006. In the top eight, 22nd seed Tiafoe meets Russia’s Andrei Rublev.
Rublev with no problems against Norrie
Rublev takes the next attempt to break his quarterfinal curse at Grand Slam tournaments. The 24-year-old reached the round of the top eight for the sixth time with a 6: 4, 6: 4, 6: 4 against the British Cameron Norrie – but he has never gone further at a major event.
At the French Open, Rublev was close to the semifinals, but was defeated by Croatian Marin Cilic in the match tiebreak of the fifth set.
Rublew is now dealing with the winner of the match between Grand Slam record champion Rafael Nadal and the American Frances Tiafoe in New York. Nadal is unbeaten in 22 major games this year.