Tennis player Angelique Kerber suffered a setback on her way back to her old strength at the tournament in Miami.
The former world number one, who recently showed improving form at the tournament in Indian Wells after returning from an 18-month maternity leave, deservedly lost her first round match against the American Sloane Stephens 2:6, 3:6.
The former Wimbledon semi-finalist Tatjana Maria from Bad Saulgau was also eliminated in the first round with a 2:6, 3:6 against the Colombian Emiliana Arango.
Kerber with problems with his serve
During the match, Kerber (36) struggled with coach Torben Beltz because she found it difficult to read the game of her physically strong opponent. In fact, the former US Open winner Stephens (31) dominated the game, Kerber didn’t move particularly well and also had problems with his own serve. After 70 minutes, Stephens’ first match point sealed the early exit of the three-time Grand Slam tournament winner.
During the day, Tamara Korpatsch from Kaltenkirchen will also play her first round match against Viktoriya Tomowa from Bulgaria in the hard court tournament worth $8.77 million.
Siegemund in round two
On Tuesday, Laura Siegemund became the first German tennis player to reach the second round with a three-set win against Serbian Aleksandra Krunic. Siegemund, who fought for a starting place in the main field through qualification, will face Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, seeded number nine, in the next round.
In the men’s category, Olympic champions Alexander Zverev, Jan-Lennard Struff, Daniel Altmaier, Yannick Hanfmann and Dominik Koepfer are at the start. Zverev and Struff each have a bye in the first round.
