Niemeier coach Christopher Kas: "Jule is looking forward to the ultimate challenge"
At the US Open 2022, Jule Niemeier has already shown that she can play on the same level as Iga Swiatek . On Monday (from 09:00 CET live on Eurosport and in our ticker) the German will meet the world number one again. We once asked coach Christopher Kas about the sensitivities.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jan 14, 2023, 08:36 am
Jule Niemeier drew the most difficult lot in the women's tableau at the Australian Open 2023, so there shouldn't be two opinions. On the other hand, meeting Iga Swiatek also means that Niemeier can show off her skills on one of the big show courts, the biggest even. The game against the three-time Major winners is scheduled for Monday from 09:00 CET (live on Eurosport and in our ticker) at the Rod Laver Arena.
"Jule is doing well" coach Christopher Kas tells tennisnet.com from Melbourne. You trained very well for four days. Which was also important. "We flew to Sydney on December 22nd, the preparation for Jule was very short because she was still playing in the Billie Jean King Cup."
Good matches against Bouzkova and Keys
Although Niemeier lost both of her matches at the United Cup, coach Kas was not dissatisfied. "I saw a very good performance against Marie Bouzkova. On the other hand, the starting position was much more difficult against Madison Keys, because as a team we already had our backs to the wall.”
Bad luck followed in Adelaide, where Niemeier had to face Kaolina Plsikova right at the start of qualifying. "One would certainly have hoped for a different opponent," Kas continued. But his protégé learned a lot from these three matches against opponents at the top level.
Swiatek as the ultimate challenge
Speaking of bad luck: "Iga Swiatek, we don't have to talk about that, is the toughest, most difficult, most challenging draw you can have in the women's draw. There is a reason why Iga leads the world rankings with so many points and has only lost eight matches in all of last year.” A challenge that Jule Niemeier will accept. "It is what it is," says Christopher Kas. “Of course it was a bit of a shock at first. Now it is a matter of preparing as best as possible for this task.”
The match that Niemeier and Swiatek played against each other in New York should serve as a reference. "Jule played fantastic tennis for an hour and a half. She called up everything that makes her dangerous: served very, very well, good offensive play, was tough in rallies, was very variable second with a break ahead. Before Swiatke went one round further with 2: 6, 6: 4 and 6: 0.
There would be no guarantee that things would go that way again. But: "We look forward to the ultimate challenge."
Here is the women's individual tableau
laver arena