As every October, the WTA heads to Luxembourg for the final international women’s tour event on European soil.
Held in a small tennis center in a Luxembourg suburb, the Luxembourg Tennis Open has a long-standing tradition, being held for the 24th time this year.
The tournament is a welcome change of pace for the players. The venue is very cozy and intimate, making this tournament a favorite among many players, as evident by the packed entry lists each year.
Year 2014 is no different, as some of the WTA’s most popular names have signed up to play, including Sabine Lisicki, Andrea Petkovic, Alize Cornet & Julia Görges.
Tuesday at Luxembourg was all about the first-round matches. The many spectators got to witness a packed day with no less than 12 hours of tennis action on two courts!
The first top player to take the center court was Alize Cornet and the French #1 delivered a flawless performance against Czech Lucie Hradecka, proceeding to the second rounds in straight sets.
Afterwards, two German players were looking for redemption, as both Sabine Lisicki & Andrea Petkovic fared badly in Linz last week, suffering a first-round exit in Austria.
Lisicki played much better in Luxembourg, winning her first round match in quite an impressive fashion by serving a bagel to Daniela Hantuchova in what was a trouble-free straight-set win.
While Lisicki was able to find some proper late-season form, Petkovic’s woes continued, as the German crowd favorite failed to make an impact in Luxembourg. Despite having the #1 seed to her name and plenty of fan support to back her, Petkovic struggled heavily against Pauline Parmentier and the German’s countless errors allowed the French player to clinch a rather surprising two-set win.
The many German fans that made the trip across the border were in for even more disappointment as the evening continued, as Julia Görges lost her first-round match against American Varvara Lepchenko. The 140-minute three-setter kept the spectators on the edge of their seats, as Görges forced a deciding set after dropping the first, only to crumble in the key moments late in the match.
Momentum will continue in Luxembourg tomorrow. Wednesday’s order of play is every bit as packed as on Tuesday, featuring the second-round matches of Alize Cornet, Sabine Lisicki and many more, so make sure to keep checking back to Women’s Tennis Blog for all the latest coverage live from Luxembourg!
I hope that the many spectators will also see and like our photos. My favorites from this set are action shots of Cornet hahaha awesome! The focused Lisicki is also a good photo. Annika Beck running for the ball as well. And as I’ve told you on Twitter, I like it that you also photograph the ambiance and WTA boyfriends (like Sabine’s bf Oliver in this case) 😉
These are great photos! I really like that we get to see so many of the players in action. Too often we only see photos of the big stars but all these ladies are amazing!
Petko made a scary statement after match saying that she is no shape to play any kind of tennis right now, also having health and private problems 🙁
Sabey, you’ll see Wednesday’s gallery, it’s even better! 😀 Hilarious portrait photo of Cornet and amazing action shots of Barthel, Beck and others.
Katie, that’s so unfortunate. I hope that it is just a short phase. We all go through tough times occasionally. Petko is smart and strong, she will push through.