Dominik Koepfer hobbled sadly through the catacombs of the Arthur Ashe Stadium with a thick ankle, Eva Lys was already joking about the final at the US Open.
On an evening of great emotions under the floodlights of New York, the mood of the two German tennis professionals could not have been more different after their most important games to date.
During only the eighth rally, Koepfer twisted his ankle in the first round duel with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz so badly that all hope of a surprise coup was gone. The 29-year-old dragged himself across the pitch for an hour, but then had to give up at the score of 2:6, 2:3 despite painkillers and tape bandages.
suspected torn ligament
First diagnosis: suspected ligament tear. “I knew: That’s it,” he said of the moment of the early injury. “But when you play in front of more than 20,000 spectators, against the world number one, for the first time on Ashe, you definitely don’t give up immediately.”
In the shadow of New York’s largest arena, Lys had celebrated her first ever victory in a Grand Slam tournament at dusk a few hours earlier. The 21-year-old gave the American Robin Montgomery (18) no chance in just 64 minutes with 6: 2, 6: 1. “Of course it’s the biggest success of my career so far, because I only have the best emotions that you can have on the pitch,” enthused Lys.
After the success, the Hamburg native fell on her knees, overwhelmed, celebrated with her family – and was surprisingly cheered on by Arne Friedrich. After the game, Lys chatted for a few minutes with the former soccer player, who was at the US Open on Tuesday as a “sports enthusiast”. “She’s really tough and has power in the shots,” Friedrich told the German Press Agency about Lys. “She’s very tidy, really cool.”
Lys happy
Lys gave the same impression after the game. The German Billie Jean King Cup player had already fought her way through the qualification for the first time at the hard court tournament in Flushing Meadows and received the match ball and a photo for this premiere from the organizers. “It has a very symbolic meaning and it will be set up nicely in the room – but hopefully not soon,” she said, flirting with a view of the final: “There are only six matches left.”
The British Emma Raducanu proved with her sensational triumph in 2021 that it can go very far for a qualifier at the US Open. “It was incredible. Of course it gives a lot of motivation for a player like me who just qualified,” said Lys. In the next round she meets Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti, who surprisingly won against number 12 seeded Barbora Krejcikova from the Czech Republic. “In the second round you have a good chance against all players,” said Lys confidently.
Zverev meets Altmeier
As the second German player, Tamara Korpatsch won her first round game and now faces a difficult task against Lyudmila Samsonowa from Russia on Thursday. Alexander Zverev and Davis Cup teammate Daniel Altmaier meet for men. In the so-called night session, Yannick Hanfmann had no chance against the number six seeded Italian Jannik Sinner with 3: 6, 1: 6, 1: 6, as did Koepfer.
Late in the evening he was still mourning the “biggest game” of his career. “I wanted to absorb these moments,” said Koepfer, who was at least able to gain something positive from the performance: “Up until the debut in the first game, it was the coolest experience I’ve had so far.”
Draw men Draw women Overview of the players by country
