Once among the most promising young tennis stars, Tatiana Golovin was forced to quit the sport because of a chronic back inflammation back in 2008, and now, more than 11 years and two kids later, the 31-year-old kicked off her comeback at the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open, losing to world No.134 Kaja Juvan 6-3 6-1 in the first round of qualifying at the International-level tournament on Saturday.
12 years later …@wta @wtaluxembourg https://t.co/S0aFrHyuIx… pic.twitter.com/SEsdsXmvbJ
— Tatiana Golovin (@Matryochka) October 11, 2019
Facing a Slovenian player who was just 7 years old when Golovin played her last match on the WTA tour, Golovin immediately fell to 1-3, and even though the Frenchwoman recovered to 3-3, the rest of the set was in the hands of her teen opponent.
Golovin moved well, showed a dictating forehand, but her serve is not a weapon and she struggled to finish points. As L’Equipe states, Golovin is not able to rely on her serve, because an abdominal injury prevented her from practicing that shot, however, the tennis mom got 71% of her first serves in.
Meanwhile in Luxembourg, Tatiana Golovin is a professional tennis player again. pic.twitter.com/eJFbfH3O5n
— Tumaini Carayol (@tumcarayol) October 12, 2019
Despite the loss, this was overall a good match for Golovin. She hadn’t played for more than a decade, she still has time (after all, she’s seven years younger than still-dominant Serena Williams) and her Luxembourg opponent was a very good player, the fifth qualifying seed known for winning a set against G.O.A.T. Serena Williams in the second round of this year’s Wimbledon.
