In Cincinnati, no German is spoken in private
In doubles there is a lot of German participation at the combined event in Cincinnati, but in singles the situation is modest.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Aug 15, 2022, 02:23 pm
Andrea Petkovic could have saved the matter, and who knows, maybe the Darmstadt native will slip into the tableau of the WTA Tour 1000 tournament in Cincinnati as a lucky loser after her qualifying defeat against Caroline Garcia. As of now, however, it can be said that there is a yawning void in the individual fields of the combined event in the US state of Ohio, if you apply the German-speaking yardstick.
The case of an Austrian participation is quickly ticked off: Dominic Thiem actually wanted to try his protected ranking again on hard court for the first time after his comeback, a respiratory infection thwarted the 2020 US Open champion. The next target is probably Winston Salem, where Thiem got a wildcard.
With the German men, Alexander Zverev and Oscar Otte are missing the two fixed starters, each due to injury. Otte had to have an operation on his knee, Zverev, who would have been the defending champion in Cincinnati, is slowly working his way back into the professional tennis scene after his fatal slip in Paris. A start at the US Open is probably only a vague option for the Tokyo 2021 Olympic champion - because Zverev doesn't want to fly to New York to fill out the tableau. But to get the title.
Oscar Otte, on the other hand, will start at the last Grand Slam tournament of the year, the Cologne native said on Monday at a press conference of the German Tennis Association.
After all: Belinda Bencic speaks excellent German
And otherwise? Daniel Altmaier tried his hand at qualifying, just missed out on Lorenzo Musetti. And that's it for German men. Because apart from Zverev, Otte and Altmaier, nobody is in the top 100. And some players who might have been able to qualify for Cincinnati were involved in the German tennis Bundesliga last weekend.
And the women? Austria is out there, even if Julia Grabher has improved in the WTA charts in recent weeks. Angelique Kerber would have both the merits and the corresponding world rankings - but the three-time major winner is missing from the Cincinnati grid. Just like Wimbledon semi-finalist Tatjana Maria, who failed in the first round of qualification. Or Jule Niemeier, who didn't even try in Cincinnati. After all: Belinda Bencic, the famous Swiss, is represented in the main field. And speaks excellent German.