The Nuremberg tennis pro Maximilian Marterer has reached the third round in Wimbledon for the first time. The 28-year-old, who had already fought his way through qualifying in London as 170th in the world rankings, defeated the American Michael Mmoh on Thursday with another convincing performance 7: 5, 7: 6 (7: 5), 6: 4.
In the third round, Marterer will have to deal with Alexander Bublik from Kazakhstan, who is in 23rd place and who recently triumphed at the lawn tournament in Halle/Westphalia and defeated Olympic champion Alexander Zverev (Hamburg) in the semifinals. Last year, Marterer was eliminated in the second round at Wimbledon.
Against Mmoh, who was born in Riyadh/Saudi Arabia and is 51 places higher in the world rankings, Marterer was the more active player and often scored at the net. In addition, he could once again rely on his strong serve, he only allowed four breakballs against him and fended them all off. With a win against Bublik, Marterer would equalize his best Grand Slam result, in 2018 he had reached the round of 16 at the French Open.
Niemeier’s coup against Muchova
Meanwhile, Jule Niemeier has reached the second round with a strong performance. The 23-year-old from Dortmund, who had advanced to the quarterfinals at her premiere in Wimbledon a year earlier, surprisingly defeated number 16 seeded French Open finalist Karolina Muchova from the Czech Republic 6: 4, 5: 7, 6: 1.
After 2:52 hours, Niemeier used her first match point in a very balanced match. The 26-year-old Muchova, however, had to be treated several times on her right thigh shortly after the beginning of the third set after a fall and was obviously handicapped.
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Niemeier played extremely concentrated from the start. At first she didn’t allow a breakball, but found it very difficult to take her chances. Before she finally won the first set due to a volley error from Muchova, she had missed 12 break points, including the first five set points.
At the beginning of the second set, Niemeier also showed weaknesses when serving and immediately conceded a break. She averted another to a possible 2:5, equalized to 5:5, to promptly give up her service again. Muchova didn’t miss the chance to win the set.
Niemeier remained focused and immediately took a 2-0 lead after a break in the third round. Muchova then had to take a longer break from treatment after a fall. While she was not on the court, Niemeier practiced serves. Against the slightly limping Muchova, she kept her nerve after her return to the pitch despite a few wobbles.
