The MSC Hamburg Ladies Open (13 to 20 July) will have the Rothenbaum rocking. The Tuesday full of cracking matches is followed by Wednesday, which really has it all: Four Germans in a row on the centre court at the Rothenbaum. Germany's number one Tatjana Maria gets in on the action. The same goes for the top international stars Ekaterina Alexandrova and Dayana Yastremska, seeded one and two. The latter comes with the recommendation of having knocked Coco Gauff out of the tournament at Wimbledon. But now Jule Niemeier awaits - and she has lost her only duel against the Dortmund player so far - at the US Open 2024. In short: Tuesday's drama will be followed by a tennis Wednesday full of excitement.
Especially as Tamara Korpatsch qualified on Tuesday evening for Wednesday's clash with French Open semi-finalist Lois Boisson. Like Korpatsch, Nastasja Schunk from Mainz also has a place in the quarter-finals at stake.
However, Wednesday will open on Centre Court at 11 a.m. with the match between top seed Ekaterina Alexandrova and qualifier Eva Vedder (Netherlands). This will be followed by four matches involving Germany.
No fear against the opponent she fears. Tatjana Maria has never won against Viktoriya Tomova, her record is 0:3, and she has never played against the Bulgarian on clay: "It wasn't the best draw for me," said Tatjana Maria, laughing about her latest clash with Tomova, before adding in a combative tone: "I'm trying a new tactic, I've already got a chance."
Tatjana Maria certainly has a chance. At almost 38, she is having the tennis summer of her life, winning the tournament in Queens and working her way up to 36th in the world rankings.
Jule Niemeier (25) is also hoping to reach the round of 16. "I had shoulder problems then," says Yastremska, explaining her defeat to Niemeier in New York at the US Open. But she also remembers that "Jule is a very good player". Niemeier feels particularly comfortable on clay and has won five tournaments (4 x ITF, 1 x WTA Challenger) on clay since 2018.
Tamara Korpatsch seized her chance to reach the round of 16 on Tuesday. She defeated Raluka Serban (Cyprus) 6:4 and 6:3 and made a really good impression. After that, it was all about recharging her batteries as quickly as possible. Because Lois Boisson is now waiting for her on Wednesday. The Frenchwoman is one of the favourites to win the tournament and made a correspondingly impressive start to her Hamburg debut. Her 6:1, 6:3 victory over Austria's Julia Grabher was a demonstration of power.
Nastasja Schunk (already victorious against Moyuka Uchjima from Japan on Monday) will play for her quarter-final ticket directly beforehand. And the Mainz player's chances against Dalma Galfi from Hungary are pretty good.
Out with lots and lots of applause! Hamburg's Noma Noha Akugue promised on Tuesday before her match against defending champion Anna Bondar (Hungary) that "I will give it my all". How true. The local heroine, a finalist at the Rothenbaum in 2023, put on a magnificent performance. In the end, she only had to concede defeat in the tie-break of the third set: 4:6, 6:3, 6:7 after three hours of play.
It was never apparent throughout the match that there were over 200 world rankings between the two opponents. It was never apparent that a wildcard player (Noha Akugue) was competing against the defending champion.
Noma Noha Akugue had become stronger and stronger, her enormously powerful groundstrokes causing Bondar huge problems. Nevertheless, the match seemed to be over when a period of weakness in the third set suddenly left her trailing 1:5. However, Noma Noha Akugue not only fended off the first match point, but also fought her way into the tie-break after Bondar had two more match points. It was only there that she was defeated - and despite all the disappointment, she could still feel a bit like a winner: she held her own and was given a rousing send-off.
The last German round of 16 ticket in the singles was secured by Caroline Werner, who beat Valentina Steiner 7:6, 6:2 in a duel between the qualifiers.
Later in the evening, Noma Noha Akugue competed in the doubles alongside Nastasja Schunk. The German duo lost to the Japanese-Ukrainian pairing Makoto Ninomiya/Nadiia Kichenok 3:6, 2:6
The second German doubles team had won earlier. Tessa Brockmann and Sonja Zhenikhova defeated Michaela Bayerlova/Tara Wuerth (Czech Republic/Croatia) 7:6 and 6:3.
