Melbourne (AFP) Mona Barthel was now sitting in the small interview room without a reporter, initially looking cautiously at the camera.

“It’s so crazy, I did it for the first time,” said the last German tennis player to stay at the Australian Open after the video conference, when she thought a reporter who had been in contact from a distance had signed him up long ago. I got out and went to the Lady of the Press entertainment venue in Melbourne.

The fact that Schleswig-Holstein, of all people, who were very conservative and always under the radar, was the only one of the four German women who survived the first round of the Grand Slam tournament, fits perfectly into the image of this, from a German point of view, it really was a big mistake. At the beginning of the year. For men, farewell Jan Lennard Struve, who recently played with great strength, and Davis Cup teammate Yannick Hanfman. Trio Angelique Kerber, Laura Sigmund and Andrea Petkovic failed to pass the premiere exams the day before.

“It looked better than before,” said Eurosport expert Boris Becker, who spoke of “a little stomach ache” in relation to the record in the first round in Germany. Nine DFB professionals traveled to Australia and spent two weeks in quarantine at the hotel upon arrival. Only Barthel, Dominic Kupfer (who faced a major challenge against US Open champion Dominic Timm of Austria) and world number seven Alexander Zverev went up to the second round.

The 23-year-old hamburger match against US playoffs Maxime Chrissy is scheduled for February 10 as the second match of the evening session (around 11:00 am CET / Eurosport) – which shouldn’t be in the least negative for the late announcement. Riser. “It’s an ideal schedule for him to play very late in the evening. Alexander Zverev’s brother Misha Zverev revealed at Eurosport that he does not like to wake up early.” “I’m in good spirits,” he said, looking at his ten-year-old brother’s second-round duel.

Unlike many of his colleagues on DTB, he appears to acclimatize well to suboptimal setup and unfamiliar conditions. On the other hand, Struve experienced what is often referred to as the “used day”. “I often thought in the match that it couldn’t be true, it wasn’t there. “I’m just so frustrated,” said the 30-year-old Warsteiner.

After a solid performance in the ATP Cup, Germany’s second seed wanted to go further in the Australian Open. But then Struve is suddenly thwarted by Australian fitch owner Christopher O’Connell. 6: 7 (2: 7), 6: 7 (5: 7), 1: 6 was called up a little over two hours later. “It was just a disaster today. I invested a lot in the preparation. This is why it really hurts today, “says Struve.

On the other hand, it was easier to see the festive mood than the sadness in Barthel’s face. It seems that the words “happy” or “happy” were used dozens of times after 3: 6, 4: 6, 6: 4 against the Italian qualifiers, Elisabetta Cocciarretto. The 30-year-old from Newmünster, the 25th seed, Karolina Moshova of the Czech Republic, will meet on Thursday and have “nothing to lose”, said Barbara Reitner, former Fed Cup president.

“I try to raise the German flag for as long as possible,” Barthel said. For a long time, she wondered if she should ever go to Australia. These efforts have paid off – not just because of the already secured prize money of $ 150,000 (around € 95,000).

“In any case,” Barthel admitted, this possibility influenced her decision. The coronavirus pandemic fell victim to several tournaments last year, and Barthel also had to fight infections. Barthel confirmed in her first digital press conference with the presentation of her first duel with Muchova: “Especially after you won barely anything last year, it would be helpful if you had a little bit of protection you could make this year a little better.” The cool sentence: “I’m trying to develop My game is either enough or not enough. ”

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