Wimbledon: "Lulled up" - why we all know a Harmony Tan
Harmony Tan (WTA No. 115) is surprisingly in the round of 16 of the 2022 Wimbledon tournament. Her tennis annoys her opponents, as a hobby player you know why.
by Florian Goosmann at Wimbledon
last edit: Jul 02, 2022, 07:45 pm
Katie Boulter was nothing to envy. On Thursday, the Briton made headlines with her victory over last year's finalist Karolina Pliskova, although yesterday's newspapers gave Boulter a big mention. And the hope for more – of course it was there. A third round at Wimbledon against Harmony Tan? So please!
Yes, the French had defeated Serena Williams at the start , a bad Serena Williams, however, after a year without a match. But now, on the fine Court 2 in the All England Club, the Boulter fairy tale should please continue.
After a few minutes it was clear: It will not go on, it became official after almost an hour. 6-1, 6-1 was the score for Tan, and it was indeed as clear as it sounded. Tan scored 53 points, Boulter only 24, but she made 21 mistakes without need.
And as much as a hobby player is often amazed by what the pros present, this time it was easy to put yourself in their shoes. In Katie Boulter. Because we've all had an opponent like Harmony Tan before.
Harmony Tan: "One person believed in me..."
Tan's balls sometimes have minus speed, that's how it works, she sometimes dunks them completely unorthodoxly, sometimes high and long, sometimes with a forehand slice cut on the side, not even with too much bite (no Federer dimensions), just stop Height of the T line.
Boulter fell for everything. She tried to deal with the long, slow balls with winners - anyone who plays tennis knows how difficult it is to put a lot of steam on a long ball without speed. And how one is nevertheless tempted to do so. Hit Boulter once, Tan just shoveled back.
In contrast to some club players, Tan has more on it than "just" dodling. When Boulter played along, Tan played cleanly. Likewise when the Brit ventured onto the net (she only scored 5 out of 17 points there).
"When I was younger, I was told that I couldn't be a really good player at this game," says Tan. "But one person believed in me: Nathalie Tauziat. We worked on my game. It worked."
drama babe Nothing for Harmony
Tan's tennis, it suits her personality too. Between rallies, the 24-year-old trudges from left to right so leisurely that even Juan Martin del Potro would be jealous; At some point in the first sentence, she pointed her index finger at her mouth in the direction of her box, as if to say, keep calm, guys, come on.
After the victory over Serena Williams, Tan was involuntarily in the spotlight again: she actually had an appointment with Tamara Korpatsch for a doubles match, but Tan canceled at short notice due to injury, and Korpatsch expressed her displeasure on social media.
The day after, Tan says, Korpatsch apologized (Tan is suffering from thigh problems and plays with painkillers), and she intentionally didn't reply to her mail, she explained. The reason is clear: "I don't like drama."
wimmap