German tennis professionals Niemeier and Siegemund started successfully, Kyrgios out of the Australian Open

The German tennis professionals Jule Niemeier and Laura Siegemund made a successful start to the Australian Open on Monday, following the example of Tatjana Maria, who had presented the day before. “It was definitely a great game for me. From the beginning to the last point,” said Niemeier from Dortmund after the 6-0, 6-1 win against the overwhelmed qualifier Maja Chwalinska from Poland. The former Wimbledon quarter-finalist, who has recovered after difficult times last year, will now face 17th-seeded Ukrainian Marta Kostjuk – and with a lot of self-confidence: “It’s still a Grand Slam, but I didn’t come here “To just win one match,” said Niemeier. Siegemund was satisfied after the 4:6, 7:5, 6:4 win against the American Hailey Baptiste: “It means a lot to me,” said the 36-year-old, who will now face Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen from China.

The tournament is now over for Jan-Lennard Struff, despite a brave fight against the favorite Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. The German number two lost 3:6, 0:6, 6:4, 1:6. The world number 43. Struff found himself against the world number 23. didn’t start the game well and quickly ran after a two-set deficit. The long-time leader of the German Davis Cup team recovered in the third set and seemed to be on the right track with a quick break in the fourth round, but then collapsed again.

“Realistically, I can’t imagine playing singles here again,” says Kyrgios

Meanwhile, Nick Kyrgios’ eagerly anticipated Grand Slam comeback has ended in major disappointment for the Australian hosts. The 29-year-old local hero failed in the first round of the Australian Open with a 6:7 (3), 3:6, 6:7 (2) defeat by Briton Jacob Fearnley. “Realistically, I can’t imagine playing singles here again,” Kyrgios said afterwards. That’s why he didn’t put on headphones or listen to music before the first serve. “I went out there and wanted to hear the audience.” The 2022 Wimbledon finalist didn’t seem particularly physically fit and had to be treated by a physiotherapist during the match in the John Cain Arena. Kyrgios last took part in a Grand Slam tournament at the US Open 2022.