Dangerous Homburg | Niemeier stuns Sakkari, however Samsonova and Haddad Maia get off the mark

On the WTA 250 Dangerous Homburg Open on Monday, Jule Niemeier shocked top-seed Maria Sakkari, whereas Diana Shnaider upset one other native favorite, Angelique Kerber, however Liudmilla Samsonova and Beatriz Haddad Maia each superior safely sufficient into spherical 2.

Niemeier, a Germany fortunate loser ranked 98 on the earth, changed Elisabetta Cocciaretto within the draw simply half-hour previous to the match, after the Italian withdrew on account of sickness, and recorded her 4th profession win over a Prime 10 participant when she rallied for a 2-6 6-2 7-6(4) upset win over Sakkari, the World No 9 from Greece.

Regardless of her gradual begin, Niemeier’s sport started clicking as she scored on 22 of 36 of her second-serve return alternatives, a powerful 61.1%, in opposition to Sakkari, who has now dropped her final 4 matches.

The Greek claimed breaks within the 1st and seventh video games to open up a fairly snug double-break 5-2 lead, and he or she solely confronted her first break factors when she served for the primary set, however Niemeier didn’t convert as Sakkari saved 2 earlier than capturing the set on her 4th likelihood.

Niemeier began taking part in higher within the second, getting her first break of the match within the 4th sport earlier than saving a break level within the following sport to go 4-1 up.

Main 5-2, the German broke for the second time to stage the match at a set apiece.

Within the decider, Niemeier missed an early likelihood, however stayed forward 3-2 on serve, earlier than the following 4 video games noticed 4 breaks in a row, with Sakkari combating to avoid wasting a match level within the twelfth sport on her personal serve.

Sakkari seemed to be making a come-back as issues entered the match tiebreak, the place Niemeier held her nerve and managed to open a 6-4 lead, earlier than changing on her 2nd match level to finish a giant upset win after 2 hours and 34 minutes on the court docket.

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With the departure of the World No 9, the event misplaced one other large title when 2021 Dangerous Homburg champion Angelique Kerber misplaced to the rising Russian, Diana Shnaider.

Enjoying in opposition to the 3-time Grand Slam champion for the primary time, the 20-year-old registered a convincing 7-5 6-3 win.

This was Kerber’s first look in Dangerous Homburg since 2022, having returned to tennis as a mom, and the match was extremely anticipated, however the residence crowd had been to be upset when Shnaider claimed the primary break within the eighth sport to go 5-3 up.

On the verge of shedding the primary set, Kerber managed to avoid wasting 2 set factors on the Russian’s serve, in addition to one other on her personal serve within the tenth sport, however, having working laborious to get again into competition, the German then blew it by dropping her serve once more within the twelfth as she tried to remain within the opener.

Kerber then misplaced her serve once more early within the second, however managed to get it again instantly, just for her woes to proceed on her supply because the younger Russian utilized return stress and was rewarded by yet one more, earlier than routinely serving out the win within the following sport.

Shnaider, who reached the quarter-finals final week in Birmingham, struck 31 winners to her 16 unforced errors throughout her 1 hour and 18 minutes on court docket.

The Russian will subsequent face Australian Open semi-finalist Dayana Yastremska from Ukraine, who upset No 8 seed and Roland Garros semi-finalist Mirra Andreeva, one other younger Russian, on Sunday.

The loss drops Kerber to 7-13 this season since her return from maternity go away, and the previous World No 1 is simply 1-5 since reaching the 4th spherical of Indian Wells in March, the place she misplaced to Caroline Wozniacki.

No 4 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia defeated fortunate loser Tamara Korpatsch In straight units on Monday in Dangerous Homburg

© Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP through Getty Photographs

Haddad Maia, the 4th seed from Brazil, survived a stern take a look at from one other German fortunate loser, Tamara Korpatsch, earlier than advancing with a 6-1 7-6(6) win, and can subsequent face Anna Blinkova from Russia, who got here via 6-4 6-2 over wild-card Bianca Andreescu, the previous US Open champion taking part in the third event of her come-back from a again harm, in an error-strewn 75 minutes.

The Brazilian, who misplaced her first grass-court match of the season to Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova final week in Berlin, had not dropped a set to Korpatsch in 3 earlier conferences, and nearly preserved that excellent file in opposition to the World No 75.

Exhibiting nice contact at web, Haddad Maia managed the match for a lot of the primary 2 units, however then Korpatsch started to get a foothold with a collection of exact down-the-line winners, and saved 3 match factors, one down 5-4 and two extra down 6-5, to power a second-set tiebreak wherein the Brazilian superior to a 6-2 lead.

A medical emergency within the crowd necessitated a 20-minute stoppage, and, on resumption, Korpatsch promptly saved one other 4 match factors to stage at 6-6 within the breaker, however Haddad Maia was capable of get well, discovering a pair of sturdy winners to shut out the win on her eighth match level.

2nd-seeded Liudmila Samsonova was a simple winner over Sara Sorribes Tormo on Day 1 of the WTA 250 occasion in Germany

© Inaki Esnaola/Getty Photographs

Her subsequent opponent, Blinkova, broke Andreescu within the first sport of their match, however bought damaged again within the sixth sport, solely to interrupt once more earlier than making certain she held onto her serve and rode out the set.

Within the second, the Canadian managed to interrupt Blinkova twice, however that was removed from sufficient as a result of Andreescu dropped her personal 4 4 instances, and the Russian moved on to finish her two-set win.

Second-seeded Liudmila Samsonova from Russia rolled to a 6-3 6-1 victory over Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo, whereas among the many different winners on Monday had been two Czechs, Katerina Siniakova, with a 6-3 6-(7) 6-1 win over France’s Clara Burel, and Linda Noskova, 7-5 6-1, in opposition to American fortunate loser Taylor Townsend.

Caroline Wozniacki took a nasty tumble in her match in opposition to Elina Svitolina on Monday night, which was then suspended in a single day at 1-1 within the decider

© Paul Harding/Getty Photographs for LTA

The marquee match of Day 1 between Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina and Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki was suspended on account of darkness, with Svitolina main 3-6 7-6(4), 2-1, and it will likely be resumed on Tuesday.

Shortly earlier than play was halted, Wozniacki wanted an off-court medical timeout after taking a tumble on the grass-court floor in Svitolina’s 1-1 service sport, the place she held from 0-30.

The Ukrainian had beforehand prolonged the match in a second set that lasted almost twice so long as the primary after her 4-1 lead had evaporated. The primary set noticed 5 mixed breaks of serve.

The first-round match is the second assembly between the 2 former Prime 10 gamers, and two of the Hologic WTA Tour’s touring mothers, after Svitolina gained in straight units in Auckland in January.