AOn the day without German participation in the individual competitions, tennis players Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies successfully mastered their opening hurdle in doubles at the US Open. The two-time winners of the French Open defeated the North American duo Marcos Giron/Mackenzie McDonald 6: 3, 7: 6 (7: 5) on Wednesday.
British tennis pro Andy Murray had previously advanced to the third round of the US Open for the first time in six years. The three-time Grand Slam tournament winner also won his second match by beating North American Emilio Nava 5:7, 6:3, 6:1 and 6:0. 35-year-old Murray, who won the tournament in 2012, meets 13th seed Matteo Berrettini on Friday. The Italian found it much harder in his four-set victory (2: 6, 6: 1, 7: 6, 7: 6) against Frenchman Hugo Grenier.
Jabeur sovereign
In contrast, Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur completed her task in the second round with ease. The 28-year-old Tunisian prevailed against North American Elizabeth Mandlik 7: 5, 6: 2 and did not lose a set. It was also the 40th win of the season for Jabeur, who reached this mark as the second tennis player after the world number one Iga Swiatek from Poland.
For fellow favorite Maria Sakkari from Greece, however, the tournament is already over. The third in the world rankings, who kicked off Wimbledon semi-finalist Tatjana Maria from the competition, surprisingly lost to Chinese Wang Xiyu 6: 3, 5: 7, 5: 7. The 21-year-old Wang is in the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career.
On Thursday Jule Niemeier intervenes again as the last remaining individual player. The Wimbledon quarter-finalist will face Kazakh Yulia Putintseva in round two. The 38th player in the world rankings is a “defense artist,” said Niemeier’s coach Christopher Kas of the German Press Agency: “If Jule serves well and returns well, goes to the net from time to time, builds a few variations, then she can also against Putinzewa to get into good positions.”
