Dramatic Tuesday at the Generali Ladies Linz

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Wilson Blade 9

There was no shortage on drama on Tuesday at the 2014 Generali Ladies Linz as some of the tournament’s star players hit the court for the very first time.

Among them was Andrea Petkovic, the German crowd favorite faced Camila Giorgi for her first-round match. The Italian is likely not Petkovic’s favorite opponent, having beaten her twice this season before today’s meeting in Linz.

Their history seemed to have given Giorgi plenty of confidence. The Italian came out guns blazing as Petkovic failed to find an answer to Giorgi’s game, losing the match in straight sets.

Meanwhile, the most spectacular match of the day wasn’t held on center court but rather the small court 1 as Katerina Siniakova faced Klara Koukalova for an all-Czech duel.

The 17-year-old Siniakova, who played her way through qualifying, and the WTA-veteran delivered a highly dramatic match, displaying all the emotions tennis has to offer.

After more than two and a half hours of yelling, screaming, throwing rackets and crying, Koukalova sealed the deal in a thrilling third-set tiebreak and more than a decade of tour experience ultimately trumped young talent.

For the 32-year-old Florianopolis champion this was a more than welcome win. Koukalova had a rather disappointing summer season, having just three wins to her name since Wimbledon in June.

Back on center court, it was time for the main event of the day as two-time Generali Ladies Linz champion Ana Ivanovic played her first match against France’s Pauline Parmentier.

From the get-go, the spectators could tell that the Serbian world #8 wasn’t playing with full steam. Ivanovic seemed a bit subdued, not displaying her trademark fist pumps & energetic on-court personality.

After taking the first set, Ivanovic called the trainer early in the second set to get treatment for a hip problem. The former world #1 finished her match in straight sets, successfully ending what might have been her only appearance at this year’s tournament.

In the post-match press conference, Ivanovic revealed that she’ll base her decision on whether to continue playing the tournament on the feedback from the physio therapists.

Just hours after the match, news broke that the Serbian had also withdrawn from the Kremlin Cup in Moscow next week, putting the end of her 2014 season in serious doubts.

With one of the tournament favorites already out and another in doubtful physical conditions, this tournament could be for the taking for some of the other seeds, including top seed Eugenie Bouchard who’s due to play her first match tomorrow.

Make sure to check back to Women’s Tennis Blog as the 2014 Generali Ladies Linz unfolds!

5 COMMENTS

  1. I saw Katerina Siniakova in Stanford and she is indeed very emotive on the court. Similar in intensity but in a different way than Sabine Lisicki. She was playing with Paula Kania in double who was calming her down very efficiently between the points. They had a good run. Personally, I think that Paula has more potential than Katerina but it still remains to be seen in the results.

  2. Saudin, yes, several hours ago Ana also withdrew from Linz.

    After all the photos of Siniakova, my favorite photo here is Camila Giorgi’s father! 🙂

  3. Don’t you agree that it seems she just came to Linz out of appreciation for the organizers and that she probably had the plan of withdrawing after the first round even before coming to Linz. She just wants to be 100% for Singapore (a reason why she withdrew from Moscow too)….

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