Tennis player Jule Niemeier is in good company with her round of 16 at the US Open: Shortly after Dortmunderin in New York on Tuesday night, the 22-time Grand Slam tournament winner Rafael Nadal surprisingly said goodbye in the round of the best 16. But that was not what consoled Niemeier about the bitter 6: 2, 4: 6, 0: 6 defeat against world number one Iga Swiatek.
From the impressive first set, in which the Dortmund player really disenchanted the top-seeded Pole, she drew “a lot of self-confidence,” said the 23-year-old: “If I can play that against the number one in the world, then I can also do that against the others .”
If she gets more consistency in her game, “I can become very, very dangerous on the tour and beat a lot of good players”. She is feeling “a lot of frustration at the moment”, admitted Niemeier, “but if I reflect on it a bit in the next few days and calm down, there will also be a bit of pride.”
After his surprising and well-earned knockout round, Nadal just wanted to go home. “I have much more important things to take care of than tennis,” said the Spaniard, who longed to be by the side of his heavily pregnant wife Xisca Perelló. “Now is the moment to have my first son and hope everything will be fine.”
The prospect of soon being a father should help him to process the premature end in Flushing Meadows. In the 4: 6, 6: 4, 4: 6 and 3: 6 against Frances Tiafoe, Nadal was physically and playfully unable to stop the American, who was unleashed. When he returns to the professional tour, the tired-looking Mallorcan left open: “If I feel like I’m ready for the competition, then I’ll be there.”
Meanwhile, Jannik Sinner from Italy fought against the Belarusian Ilya Ivashka for a quarter-final ticket. After an exciting five-set match, Sinner won 6: 1, 5: 7, 6: 2, 4: 6, 6: 3.
In the women’s category, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka reached the quarterfinals by beating Danielle Collins from the USA 3:6, 6:3 and 6:2, where she meets Karolina Pliskova. The Czech, who lost in the final to Angelique Kerber in New York in 2016, beat former world number one Viktoria Asarenka from Belarus 7: 5, 6: 7 (5: 7) and 6: 2.
