Laura Sigmund and Yannick Hanfmann Retire Early

LONDON (dpa) – Laura Siegmund was the first German female tennis player to be eliminated on opening day at Wimbledon, and Yannick Hanfmann lost his men’s opening match.

The 33-year-old Swabian was largely without a chance at 1:6, 3:6 versus number 32 seed Jekaterina Alexandrowa. In the second set, Siegemund was able to prevent the Russian from continuing to overtake her with her powerful key kicks, but the break to 3:4 practically means the decision. The match started nearly five hours late due to heavy rain in London. A total of four German women and seven men take part in the start of a Grand Slam tournament on grass.

Yannick Hanfmann was eliminated in the first round at his premiere of the main draw at Wimbledon. The 29-year-old lost in London 1:6, 5:7, 6:7 (5:7) against Czech Jiri Vesely. Left-handed Vesely twice entered the round of 16 at Wimbledon and two years ago beat Alexander Zverev of Hamburg in the first round. Hanfmann was the first German man of seven to knock out a Grand Slam tournament, which was held on turf.