DrThe Australian Open women continues without the German women tennis players. As the last German to retire on Thursday, Mona Barthel. The 30-year-old Newmünster lost her second round match in Melbourne to Czech No. 25 Karolina Moshova 4-6, 1-6.
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Previously, Angelique Kerber, Laura Sigmund and Andrea Petkovic failed in the first round of their first Grand Slam tournament this season. In the men’s category there is only Alexander Zverev. The 23-year-old will face Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in the third round on Friday. Barthel, who fell to 127th in the world rankings after numerous injuries, was largely without a chance against Machova. After 1:13, the Czech turned the ball for the second match.
After all, there were German successes in the doubles. Laura Siegmund won her first round match against the Australians Kimberly Pearl and Jimmy Forlis with a score of 6: 2, 6: 1 alongside Russian Vera Sunarewa. Last year, the German-Russian duo surprisingly won the US Open in New York.
Kevin Kreowitz and Yannick Hanfman moved to the second round in the men’s category. German duo Devig Sharan of India and Slovakia defeated Igor Zilinai 6: 1, 6: 4. Hanfman replaced the injured Andreas Mies in a short time, who won the French Open with Kreowitz in 2019 and 2020.
“I haven’t played the best tennis game”
At the individual level, the Australian Open women will continue without German participation. However, Barthel did not want to see lions in the future. “We still have a lot of good players. The next tournament could look completely different,” said the North German. It is not an easy time for everyone due to the effects of the Coronavirus pandemic. “The training conditions were not easy either. In Schleswig-Holstein, for example, I waited four or five weeks for a special permit,” said the 30-year-old.
Barthel held out well against Machuva in the first set. Even losing service to 2: 3 did not disturb the calm and he quickly managed to re-break. But because she gave up on serving again, the Czech favorite secured the first round after 42 minutes in the fifth set. “It’s a shame that I didn’t play my best tennis at the important moments in the first set,” said Barthel.
In Group Two, the former Fed Cup player had no chance. Barthel gave up her service three times and now had little to oppose the strong Czech game. “It was still a great tournament for me after a long time. I think I can benefit from this tournament a lot,” said Barthel.
Things look very different with Sophia Kenin. The defending champion from the United States lost to star Kaya Kanebi of Estonia 3: 6, 2: 6. However, world number one Ashley Barty moved to the third round. The Australian defeated her compatriot Daria Gavrilova 6: 1, 7: 6 (9: 7), but she even had to save two steady balls in the second round.
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