BIBERACH, December 20, 2015
From 15 to 20 December, the German Tennis Federation (DTB) returned to Biberach, a town located in the country’s southwest, for a seventh time organizing the 44th edition of the National Tennis Championships.
The women’s final headlined Sunday’s action with fourth seed Anna-Lena Friedsam, who finished runner-up at this year’s WTA International event in Linz, taking on only 18-year-old Katharina Hobgarski. Friedsam, three years older than her opponent, overpowered Hobgarski right from the beginning with clean baseline shots and an aggressive play to seal a comfortable 6-0, 6-1 victory, taking her second National Championships crown after lifting the trophy in 2013.
The finalists in Biberach: Anna-Lena Friedsam and Katharina Hobgarski
“It is very nice to capture the title here. I had a very difficult match yesterday and I am very proud that I was able to prevail. This victory gave me a lot of confidence for today’s final,” Friedsam told about Saturday’s semi-finals match, when she beat former world number 15 and second seed Julia Görges in straight sets. Friedsam, who earns a prize money of €3,600, was happy with her performance.
“I stayed focused throughout today’s match, which made it difficult for Katharina. The result doesn’t look like a tight match but nonetheless it was hard work and you need to stay concentrated at every stage of the encounter, “ she told and added that she was glad to see so many familiar faces this year in Biberach.
“It was a very attractive field. This is good for the players, the spectators as well as the entire tennis in Germany. The tournament represented a good preparation for my next tasks,” the world number 95 from Neuwied explained and said that she will leave for Shenzhen on December 29 in order to start the new season. Sydney and the Australian Open will follow.
Julia Görges crashed out in the semis on Saturday
The men’s draw was not as strong as the women’s draw. The tournament’s top seed Matthias Bachinger withdrew in the very last minute and second favourite Nils Langer was forced to retire in the third set of his opening match. Consequently, two players ranked outside the top 400 met in the final when seventh seed Oscar Otte defeated Jan Choinski, winning 6-3, 6-1.
Oscar Otte
Overall the week in Biberach was a success. The organizers announced a new record in terms of spectators attending the matches, maybe due to the fact that they also found some new approaches making the tournament more attractive. For the first time, the event did not take place in the first week of December but closer to Christmas, when most of the players are looking for some proper match practice. Moreover, the top four seeds received a bye in the early stages and stepped into action for the quarterfinals on Friday. Coaching was allowed for men and women.
And on Saturday, Carina Witthöft, who was top-seed in the women’s singles draw, and Yannick Hanfmann captured the title in the mixed competition, which was held for the first time since 2010, winning the final 6-3, 7-5 against Antonia Lottner and Johannes Härteis.
