Jule Niemeier guarantees to fill Germany's thinning tennis expertise pool | Tennis Information
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Jule Niemeier noticed two match factors come and go in her third and remaining qualifying spherical on the 2021 Wimbledon, falling in need of a principal draw spot in agonising trend. A 12 months afterward the identical grass courts of All England Membership, Niemeier was among the many final eight standing in girls’s singles.
The 23-year-old German has rolled alongside from simply her second Grand Slam principal draw look a few months in the past into the third, exhibiting a lot progress and penchant for the massive stage at this US Open.
Niemeier swept previous the fast-rising Chinese language teen and world No 39 Zheng Qinwen 6-4, 7-6(5) on Saturday night time for a spot within the fourth spherical, the place world No 1 Iga Swiatek awaits. Ranked 108, Niemeier has been scientific at Flushing Meadows, taking out 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin and the Thirty eighth-ranked Kazakh Yulia Putintseva in straight units within the first two rounds.
As spectacular as her rise could seem from one Wimbledon to a different, Niemeier’s progress chart hasn’t been as burgeoning as that of, say, in a single day star Emma Raducanu or teen marvel Coco Gauff. Extra regular than sensational.
A Borussia Dortmund fan who performed soccer as a child, Niemeier was a top-30 youth participant with none main success on the junior tour. She turned professional in 2016 and competed in her first WTA principal draw match solely three years later, a first-round defeat in Nuremberg.
It was solely final 12 months that Niemeier picked up tempo on the elite degree. In Could, she stormed into the semi-finals of the WTA 250 occasion in Strasbourg as a qualifier. Niemeier beat Andrea Petkovic, her extra seasoned compatriot, and Shelby Rogers, her first win in opposition to a top-50 participant, earlier than shedding in three units to Czech fifth seed Barbora Krejcikova, the eventual winner. Two months later, Niemeier made the WTA semi-final in Hamburg, upsetting No 8 seed Caroline Garcia and third seed Tamara Zidansek.
The massive wins started cropping up. The largest although got here within the second spherical of this 12 months’s Wimbledon, the place she beat No 2 seed Anett Kontaveit 6-4, 6-0. Within the Spherical of 16, she brushed apart house favorite Heather Watson for a shock quarter-final berth after a first-round exit in her maiden Slam principal draw on the French Open. Niemeier broke into the top-100 rankings in Could and would have been positioned loads greater now had Wimbledon provided rating factors.
“Within the first couple of matches in opposition to prime gamers, I used to be hesitating a bit,” Niemeier, coached by former German professional Christopher Kas, mentioned in London. “I believed I've to play one thing particular. In the event you play these gamers, you simply have to remain there. You must play each level. You must keep constant, simply concentrate on each level.”
Niemeier has a robust serve and a fair stronger forehand—her remaining two successful factors within the second set tiebreaker in opposition to Zheng had been each crisp on-the-rise, inside-out forehand winners—however is ever-improving in making an attempt to “combine it up a bit” and “be artistic on courtroom”.
Niemeier’s continued rise couldn’t be timed higher from the German tennis viewpoint. Petkovic, 34, referred to as it quits after shedding within the first spherical of this US Open whereas 34-year-old Angelique Kerber, the nation's prime participant, withdrew from the event after asserting her being pregnant. The one different top-100 German feminine, Tatjana Maria, can also be 35.
The current retirements of former prime 10 Julia Goerges and prime 20 Anna-Lena Groenefeld had sparked considerations within the nation’s tennis circles a couple of looming gap. Niemeier appears to be doing the precise issues to fill that hole.
“It is humorous—somebody was simply passing immediately and mentioned, 'Oh, there's the brand new German prime participant, blah blah blah’,” Niemeier advised WTA final 12 months. “You simply need to learn to deal with it. I imply, it is an honour to be the one who may be top-of-the-line gamers in Germany after such an excellent era with Petko, Kerber and Goerges. I really feel extra honoured than I really feel strain."
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