Wimbledon
“I love it”: Niemeier celebrates coup – Otte continues
Surprisingly defeated Anett Kontaveit from Estonia: Jule Niemeier. Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP/dpa
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For the first time Jule Niemeier is in the main draw at Wimbledon and immediately creates a sensation. In the duel with Anett Kontaveit, the Dortmund native dominates her second-seeded opponent.
Jule Niemeier dropped the bat, grabbed his head in disbelief and cried out her joy. She defeated Anett Kontaveit from Estonia, third in the tennis world rankings, with a very strong performance at the classic grass lawn in Wimbledon and celebrated a sensation.
For the 6: 4, 6: 0 and the first entry into the third round, the 22-year-old from Dortmund needed just 58 minutes. “I’m speechless to be honest. Winning the game on Court 1 in Wimbledon is a great feeling, »said Niemeier, overwhelmed on the pitch. “It’s one of the best matches I’ve ever played. I was pretty nervous before the game.”
Oscar Otte went into the next round even faster. Opponent Christian Harrison from the USA gave up after only 15 minutes at a score of 3:1 for Otte in the first set. The man from Cologne, German number one in Wimbledon without the missing Olympic champion Alexander Zverev injured, is now dealing with the young Spanish star Carlos Alcaraz or Tallon Griekspoor from the Netherlands.
Niemeier: “I love playing on grass”
While Otte was the favourite, Niemeier managed a real coup. In her first duel with a top ten player, after a balanced start, she dominated her number two opponent at will. For the biggest success of her career, Niemeier collects more than 138,000 euros and now meets Anhelina Kalinina or Lessia Zurenko from Ukraine. “I love playing on grass,” said Niemeier. “It’s a special surface, it suits my game, I love it.”
Last year, Niemeier narrowly missed the first jump into the Wimbledon main draw and, after the French Open a month ago, is only taking part in a Grand Slam for the second time. “I’m trying to absorb all of this here, I still don’t quite know where to go,” she said before the match about her experience at Wimbledon, where she also admired Rafael Nadal during training. At the beginning of June, the Borussia Dortmund football fan won his first title on the WTA tour at a smaller tournament in Makarska, Croatia.
Petkovic: “An absolute top 20 player”
An experienced German had believed her capable of this for a long time. “I’m counting on her in the hope that she stays healthy and injury-free, that’s the most important thing,” said 34-year-old Andrea Petkovic about Niemeier. “In terms of play, she is an absolute top 20 player for me. She knows that, I tell her seven or eight times a day.”
In the second largest Wimbledon stadium, Niemeier showed no nerves from the start and kept up with Kontaveit. A backhand error by the Estonian coached by Torben Beltz, Angelique Kerber’s former coach, brought Niemeier the break to 3:2. With overview and wit she kept the lead and used her second set point after 32 minutes with a finely placed long forehand.
Kontaveit showed nerves, conceded another break due to a double fault right at the beginning of the second set. The Estonian, who had never made it past the third round at Wimbledon, was completely impressed. Niemeier pulled away easily and mercilessly exploited her opponent’s weaknesses. After another mistake by Kontaveit, the coup was complete.