First Angelique Kerber provided her friend Andrea Petkovic with valuable tips, then the German number one fought her way into the second round at the French Open. Two days after her triumph at the tennis tournament in Strasbourg, Kerber won against Magdalena Frech from Poland on Monday evening in Paris thanks to an impressive energy performance 1: 6, 6: 3, 7: 5 and thus survived the classic clay court in the Stade Roland Garros for the first time in four Years again the first round
Kerber didn’t seem really fresh at first. The strains of the tiebreak thrillers over more than three hours in the final in Strasbourg were clearly noticeable to the 34-year-old from Kiel. Kerber couldn’t get her own serve through the entire first set and made a lot of slight mistakes. After only 28 minutes the round went 6:2 to the Pole.
But then Kerber discovered her famous fighting heart. In the second set, the third game became the key. Frech’s service game lasted more than ten minutes before Kerber managed to break. The former world number one has now increased, scored a lot of points, especially with the forehand, and got the equalizer.
But in the third section, she immediately conceded another break and ran after it from then on. Kerber and Frech now fought a gripping fight with spectacular rallies in a row. Kerber kept his nerve with Frech’s two match balls and a little later made the first second-round entry in Paris in four years perfect.
Petkovic was in a chatty mood after her success. In the first exuberance, she even jokingly talked about entering the final. “You can’t do anything under the title here,” she said jokingly. Of course, that is still miles away for the 34-year-old from Darmstadt, but after two first-round defeats in the past two years at her “favorite Grand Slam”, the success against Dodin was a positive start.
Many assume that the current season will be their last. But that’s not set in stone. “It’s still a lot of fun for me, and I can still keep up in terms of tennis.” This is one of the reasons why the multi-talent has put other activities on the back burner for the time being. She hasn’t moderated the ZDF report for a long time, and writing isn’t currently in the foreground either. “Tennis is still my priority,” said the Hessian. “When I’m fit, I can still play with the girls and even tease them.”
