A month ago Jule Niemeier played her first Grand Slam tournament ever, now the 22-year-old is in the main draw for the first time in Wimbledon and immediately creates a sensation. In a duel with Anett Kontaveit, she even dominated her number two opponent in less than an hour.
Jule Niemeier dropped the bat, grabbed his head in disbelief and cried out her joy. The 22-year-old from Dortmund defeated Anett Kontaveit from Estonia, third in the tennis world rankings, with a very strong performance at the grass classic in Wimbledon and celebrated a sensation. Niemeier needed just 58 minutes for the 6:4, 6:0 and entry into the third round.
“I’m speechless to be honest. Winning the game on court one at Wimbledon is a great feeling,” said Niemeier on the pitch. “It’s one of the best matches I’ve ever played. I was pretty nervous before the game.”
In her first duel with a top ten player, Niemeier dominated her number two opponent at will after a balanced start. For her greatest success in a Grand Slam, Niemeier collects more than 138,000 euros and now meets Anhelina Kalinina or Lessia Zurenko from Ukraine. “I love playing on grass,” said Niemeier. “It’s a special surface, it suits my game, I love it.” Last year, Niemeier narrowly missed the first jump into the Wimbledon main draw and, after the French Open a month ago, is only taking part in a Grand Slam for the second time.
The world rankings-97. showed no nerves from the start in the second largest Wimbledon stadium and kept up with Kontaveit. A backhand error by the Estonian coached by Torben Beltz, Angelique Kerber’s former coach, brought Niemeier the break to 3:2. With overview and wit, she kept the lead and used her second set ball after 32 minutes with a finely placed long forehand.
Kontaveit showed nerves, conceded another break due to a double fault right at the beginning of the second set. The Estonian, who had never made it past the third round at Wimbledon, was completely impressed. Niemeier pulled away easily, came over her strong serve (she hasn’t broken serve in the tournament so far) and mercilessly exploited her opponent’s weaknesses. After another mistake by Kontaveit, the coup was complete.
