SUPER GLOBAL CHICK ASKS “WAS FED CUP KRYPTONITE TO THE STUTTGART TENNIS PLAYERS?”

Written by: on 23rd April 2015
Tennis WTA tournament in Stuttgart
SUPER GLOBAL CHICK ASKS "WAS FED CUP KRYPTONITE TO THE STUTTGART TENNIS PLAYERS?"

epa04716101 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland reacts during her first round match against Sara Errani of Italy at the WTA tennis tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, 22 April 2015. EPA/MARIJAN MURAT  |

From the always engaging Andrea Petkovic admitting that two years in a row now her creaking hamstring has made its presence known as the change of surface has meant she still yearns to put in a great performance in her home tournament.

 

Even before coming here, another one of the tour’s best characters Jelena Jankovic was sidelined with a foot injury on the green (read grey) clay of Charleston, although that did not stop her heading back to Serbia to support her compatriots in their efforts.

 

Agnieszka Radwanska managed to redeem herself for the two losses that propelled a Maria Sharapova-led Russia into the semi-finals, but even so, she lost out to a resurgent Timea Bacsinszky and lost to Sara Errani in the opening round in Stuttgart.

 

With the draw beginning to read like the opening pages of a Wilbur Smith novel where characters fall by the way-side before the first page is over, so the returning Petra Kvitova was the next on the Scattered Seed list.

 

In fairness she knew that coming back to a stacked field after two months off from the tour with exhaustion, she was always going to struggle with the fast past indoor dirt, and the USA’s Madison Brengle hit some great form against the Czech, keeping up the aggression and rounding out a solid straight sets win.

Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic reacts during her second round match against Madison Brengle of the USA at the WTA tennis tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, 23 April 2015. EPA/MARIJAN MURAT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course all eyes will be in whether the Queen of Porsches Sharapova can get off to a winning start. She faces another Fed Cup heroine, after Angie Kerber leveled a tight tie for Germany in the Fed Cup, only for it to come down to the deciding doubles rubber, and ultimately heartache for last year’s finalists.

 

Petkovic tipped Kerber for the win at the start of the week, which she took in her stride with a smile, and after a decent start to the year followed by some results we’re pretty sure she doesn’t want to dwell on, she picked up her first title of the year (on that murky clay) in Charleston and could well pull off the shock of the tournament if she can challenge Sharapova.

 

The three-time defending champion may have opted out of Fed Cup (sadly missing the chance to be in her home town of Sochi, and has been training hard in Stuttgart, but Kerber has put the match time in here – will that be an advantage? Not even she could guess at that, but it is a brutal opener for someone in search of their fourth straight Porsche!

 

She said: “I played very well in the last few weeks and I have a lot of confidence. I mean it’s one of my favourite tournaments here. It’s like my home tournament. And of course Maria is here and she’s had great practice days. But you know, you never know if it’s good to have a match before or no. So, you just go out there and every match starts from zero. So, I need to be prepared from the first point tomorrow.”

 

Sabine Lisicki of Germany returns a ball against Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan during their first round match at the WTA tennis tournament in Stuttgart, Germany, 22 April 2015. EPA/MARIJAN MURAT

Sabine Lisicki had to rue to placement of the Fed Cup this year – and to be fair to her, she didn’t want to use it as an excuse for a 6-0 6-0 drubbing at the hands of WTA Rising Star Zarina Diyas but she had to say: I wish it was one month earlier, because this is our biggest tournament that we actually have in Germany. So, to come here as late as Monday afternoon is a tough turnaround, no doubt about. But that is nothing to explain today.”

 

While it has been sad to see key names like Ana Ivanovic and Radwanska fall by the wayside so early, the class field makes it almost inevitable, but the Fed Cup semis don’t help an already over-crowded season.

 

With similar rumblings before and during the early days of Indian Wells in March by the higher ranking members of the ATP, can this kryptonite be buried somewhere for a square-jawed hero to find, some day in the future? (And side note – why is it always covered in snow?)

 

For now, Stuttgart seems to be holding form with some solid names still in the draw, but watch this space.

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