Australian Open: Laura Siegemund - "I just have to be proud"
Laura Siegemund played her best tennis in the third round of the Australian Open. However, she had to admit defeat.
by SID
last edit:
Jan 21, 2023, 02:02 pm
When Laura Siegemund left the Kia Arena in Melbourne disappointed after a dashing performance, loud applause broke out again. Played great, but beat in the end - the 34-year-old narrowly missed her first round of 16 at the Australian Open despite a convincing performance.
Siegemund was defeated by the strong Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia 6:1, 3:6, 3:6 in the third round duel on Saturday. This means that the round of the last 16 in Melbourne will take place for the first time since 2010 without German participation in both individual competitions. "I have to be very proud of my performance," said Siegemund, but that was still difficult for the fighter about two and a half hours after the match: "I'm never happy if I don't win."
Siegemund also annoys Garcia
Siegemund deserved compliments for her performance against the title candidate. "She played a great match, read me very well and took advantage of my speed," said Garcia. "It was an impressive performance by Laura, hats off. She played one of her best matches on hard court that I've ever seen from her," commented national coach Barbara Rittner on Eurosport: "She should urgently consider whether she shouldn't also play singles keep playing a bit, because that was really fun."
Siegemund had already surprised the Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu in the second round, now she annoyed her highly valued opponent for a long time. Her greatest success at Grand Slam level remains the 2020 quarter-finals in Paris. In Melbourne, she had also reached the third round on her debut seven years ago.
Yawning emptiness
From a German point of view, there is now a yawning emptiness Down Under. Ten professionals from Germany started in the main draw. Only Olympic champion Alexander Zverev had made it into the second round alongside Siegemund, but then failed because of the American Michael Mmoh.
The day before their highlight game, Siegemund had also started in doubles without success. She wants to concentrate on this discipline in the future, also due to injury reasons, but she could now start thinking again, as she herself admitted.
'Nobody would do that to Nadal'
Before the match, Rittner was curious to see how much the experienced player still had in her tank on her fourth day in a row: "It's difficult to keep your focus non-stop." But Siegemund mainly delivered in the first sentence. She served with high odds and then benefited from her opponent's many return errors. Then she switched to attack mode when Garcia served and earned the break to make it 3-1 and followed up.
Garcia was looking to break the underdog's momentum after a brief toilet break after the first set. And the French increased significantly. In the deciding set it was close until the end.
Siegemund was warned twice for exceeding the time before her service and lost a first serve when the score was 40:40 in the decisive game. "No one would do that at Rafa," said the German in reference to top star Nadal. She resisted afterwards, but ultimately had to congratulate Garcia.
Here is the women's individual tableau
laver arena