HAMBURG, July 23, 2023
The summer clay-court swing on the WTA Tour has moved to northern Germany, as main draw action at the Hamburg European Open got underway on a mostly chilly and rainy Sunday. However, under the roof on Center Court, Tamara Korpatsch seemed to feel comfortable. She delighted her home crowd by reaching the second round of the prestigious clay-court event. The 28-year-old German battled past Maria Carle of Argentina 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Korpatsch overcame a bumpy start with the help of an overwhelming wave of support from the spectators, converted three of her 12 break-point opportunities and won 57 per cent of the total points played to secure victory in two hours and 16 minutes.
“It was a tough match today,” said Korpatsch, who was born in Hamburg and lives close to the Rothenbaum Tennis Complex. “I was nervous at the beginning and after the first set, I told myself that I cannot lose this match in front of my family and friends. However, my opponent played pretty slowly, which didn’t make it easy for me.”
The 99th-ranked Korpatsch will next take on either No. 4 seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy or Australian qualifier Daria Saville.
Later in the afternoon, Hungarian Panna Udvardy rallied past Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 in two hours and eight minutes and will play the winner of the encounter between No. 2 seed Mayar Sherif from Egypt and local hero Eva Lys in the second round.
In the final match of the day, Italy’s Martina Trevisan cruised past US-American teenager Elvina Kalieva 6-1, 6-0 in just under one hour of play and will next face either Russian Kamila Rakhimova or No. 8 seed Camila Osorio of Colombia.
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Pera aims for title defense
Meanwhile, 2022 Hamburg European champion Bernarda Pera is getting ready for her title defense. The 28-year-old Croatia-born American will open her 2023 campaign on Monday against Turkish qualifier Zeynep Sonmez.
“Lifting the trophy here last year gave me some extra motivation. It also brings some extra pressure this season but defending the title is the goal. There are a lot of good players and I hope for a lot of good matches,” said Pera, who isn’t letting a possible bad weather forecast for Hamburg dampen her mood based on her recent experiences during the grass-court swing in England. “Everything else is good. We have a covered court, so everything will be fine.”
And what has changed since last year’s triumph? “My hair colour,” she answered with a smile.
Qualifiers round out ATP main draw
On the men’s side, four qualifiers have completed the main draw of the ATP 500 event. Elias Ymer of Sweden defeated Jozef Kovalik from Slovakia 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 22 minutes to become the first-round opponent for last year’s winner, Lorenzo Musetti of Italy. Thiago Seyboth Wild won the Brazilian Derby with Thiago Monteiro 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 24 minutes and will oppose Juan Pablo Varillas of Peru.
Chilean Cristian Garin overcame a one-set deficit to prevail 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) over Belgium’s Kimmer Coppejans after two hours and 34 minutes and will meet Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien in the main draw. Finally, Jan Choinski edged past Daniel Elahi Galan of Colombia 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 after two hours and 16 minutes. Next up for the Briton will be Zhizhen Zhang of China.
SUNDAY RESULTS
Men’sQualifying Singles – Second RoundATP – Qualifying – [7] J. Choinski (GBR) d [1] D. Galan (COL) 61 46 64ATP – Qualifying – [3] C. Garin (CHI) d K. Coppejans (BEL) 26 63 76(5)ATP – Qualifying – [4] T. Seyboth Wild (BRA) d [5] T. Monteiro (BRA) 64 63ATP – Qualifying – E. Ymer (SWE) d J. Kovalik (SVK) 63 63
Qualifying Doubles – Second RoundATP – Qualifying – [WC] M. Moeller (GER) / M. Topo (GER) d [2] B. Arias (BOL) / F. Zeballos (BOL) 64 67(1) 10-6
Women’s
Qualifying Singles – Second RoundWTA – D. Saville (AUS) d S. Kraus (AUT) 46 64 63WTA – E. Jacquemot (FRA) d [WC] K. Kanev (GER) 75 60WTA – P. Kudermetova d E. Makarova 75 75WTA – M. Bulgaru (ROU) d E. Arango (COL) 76(5) 75WTA – Z. Sonmez (TUR) d N. Brancaccio (ITA) 64 75WTA – K. Juvan (SLO) d D. Papamichail (GRE) 61 62Doubles – First RoundWTA – A. Fomina-Klotz / S. Lansere d Y. Lizarazo (COL) / M. Perez Garcia (COL) 61 64
Singles – First RoundWTA – T. Korpatsch (GER) d M. Carle (ARG) 36 62 61WTA – P. Udvardy (HUN) d A. Schmiedlova (SVK) 36 63 61WTA – M. Trevisan (ITA) d E. Kalieva (USA) 61 60
