At the end, Ella Seidel was able to smile briefly. The German qualifier had won at least one game late at the Australian Open when she lost 6-0, 6-1 in the first round against the defending champion from Belarus, Aryna Sabalenka.
In the largest tennis stadium on site, the Rod Laver Arena, the 18-year-old young talent had been visibly overwhelmed by her opponent’s powerful style of play for the entire duration of her first match in the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament. In the second half, Seidel had tears in his eyes during the game. But she was spared the maximum penalty, a 0:6, 0:6, known in tennis jargon as “glasses”.
After midnight, the Hamburger managed to make it 1:5 in the second set, after it had long looked like the biggest possible defeat in the biggest game of her young tennis career, which the organizers postponed to the night session. Later she even fended off several match points.
From Seidel’s point of view, the game against Sabalenka could have come a little later after their success in qualifying. “I saw the big names and joked a bit that it would be cool to play against Sabalenka,” reported Seidel before the game: “In retrospect, I have to say, of course it would have been cool if it had only been in the second or third round would have come along.”
“I felt so sick”
The first of eleven Germans taking part in this year’s Australian Open had previously made it into the second round. Tamara Korpatsch, number 81 in the world rankings, beat Briton Jodie Burrage 2:6, 6:3, 6:0 after a difficult start. “I was excited and also shaking a bit because I’ve never won a match here in Australia and I’ve always flown here for free,” said Korpatsch.
She reported that breakfast was still heavy on her stomach in the first sentence. “I was still really full from it, even though I had breakfast at 9 a.m. and the game wasn’t until 1 p.m. I felt so sick,” said the 28-year-old. Only when things improved in the second set did Korpatsch find his way into the game and begin to dictate the game.
Pirmin Clossé and David Lindenfeld Published/Updated: Recommendations: 5 David Lindenfeld, Melbourne Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 2 Published/Updated: Recommendations: 2
In the second round, the German, who wants to break into the top 50 in the near future, will now face world number ten Barbora Krejcikova, who had to have her foot treated during her match. Alexander Zverev and Angelique Kerber will not play their first round games until Tuesday.