Anna-Lena Friedsam missed the opening win at the Billie Jean King Cup in Stuttgart. The German tennis women are under pressure early on in the qualifying duel with Brazil.
Hard fought, but missed the surprise at the start: The German tennis women came under pressure early on at the Billie Jean King Cup in Stuttgart.
Anna-Lena Friedsam lost her opening match against the favored world number 14. Beatriz Haddad Maia with 6: 3, 4: 6, 3: 6. Germany fell 0-1 behind in the qualifying duel with Brazil.
“I got into the match well, made few mistakes and was very active,” said Friedsam, who got more and more problems as the game went on: “In the third set she played inhumanly at first and made no mistakes at all. In the end it was then a few unlucky balls.”
Hardly any spectators in Stuttgart
In front of a disappointing backdrop in the sparsely occupied Stuttgart Arena, Friedsam got into the match well – an early break made the German bank celebrate for the first time. The newly crowned Bogota winner Tatjana Maria also cheered on Friedsam from the sidelines in the run-up to her follow-up game against Laura Pigossi.
Friedsam, who had recently presented herself in good form with two quarter-final participations on the WTA tour, also convinced in the further course of the first set with a good service rate. After a little more than half an hour it was 1-0 to the delight of the German supporters.
Friedsam had been surprisingly nominated by team boss Rainer Schüttler in the individual – instead of the weak Wimbledon quarter-finalist Jule Niemeier. The 91st in the world rankings fell behind in the hard-fought second round.
Left-hander Haddad Maia increasingly dominated the rallies and consequently forced the deciding set with a fine stop. There, the favorite then showed her class, punished Friedsam’s increased susceptibility to errors and fought her way to winning the match – despite the Germans rebelling at times.
The selection of the German Tennis Association plays on Friday and Saturday to qualify for the final tournament with the twelve best national teams in November. The team that gets three wins first wins the duel.
