From a German perspective, the second day of Wimbledon is going badly – a mother of two is the only highlight. Late in the evening, Serena Williams suffered a dramatic defeat. When it comes to the classic lawn, there is also a big concern.

On a very bitter day for the German tennis pros in Wimbledon, only Tatjana Maria was able to celebrate her debut victory as a mother of two.

Before superstar Serena Williams suffered a dramatic comeback defeat late in the evening, the 34-year-old was the only one of seven Germans to reach the second round. “Wimbledon is my favorite Grand Slam and it’s the first Grand Slam match that I’ve won with both daughters,” enthused Maria. “It’s something special for me.” She last won a match on the lawn classic in 2018, and her daughter Cecilia was born 14 months ago.

Corona is back in focus

For a German sextet around the recently corona-positive Andrea Petkovic, the sporty end came. For fellow favorite Matteo Berrettini, the tournament was over even before the first serve. With a black and white photo and sad words, last year’s finalist announced his corona infection and increased concerns about the virus at the tournament. The Italian wrote that he was “heartbroken” and was the second prominent tennis professional to announce his corona-related cancellation after former US Open champion Marin Cilic.

In view of the rapidly increasing number of positive tests in England and no restrictions for players and spectators, Corona is back in focus after the tournament was canceled two years ago. “I have no words to describe how extremely disappointed I am,” Berrettini wrote on Instagram. He had reached the final against Serbian Novak Djokovic in 2021 and was now one of the top favorites to win the title. Cilic had trained with the top seeded defending champion Djokovic on Center Court on Thursday. Djokovic says he is still unvaccinated.

Players and spectators alike are no longer required to provide proof of vaccination or negative tests at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. There is also a tight crowd in the professional area, especially on the first days of the tournament. “When it rains, all the players and all the guests are in the restaurant and there aren’t many places to sit,” reported Andrea Petkovic after her first-round defeat by 4: 6, 3: 6 against Viktorija Golubic from Switzerland.

Also for the German Wimbledon debutants Nastasja Schunk (4: 6, 2: 6 against the Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu), Tamara Korpatsch (7: 6 (9: 7), 5: 7, 2: 6 against the Brit Heather Watson), Daniel Altmaier (3:6, 5:7, 5:7 against Mikael Ymer of Sweden) and Nicola Kuhn (3:6, 7:6 (7:1), 3:6, 2:6 against Brandon Nakashima from the USA ) came the end. As the last German on Tuesday, Dominik Koepfer lost 4: 6, 5: 7, 6: 7 (1: 7) against the Colombian Daniel Galan.

Nadal also struggled

This means that a total of five German tennis professionals, led by Angelique Kerber, are in the second round and all of them are back in action on Wednesday. Serena Williams failed with the 5: 7, 6: 1, 6: 7 (7:10) against the French outsider Harmony Tan in her first singles after a one-year break. 22-time Grand Slam tournament winner Rafael Nadal of Spain also struggled but won in four hard-fought sets against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo.

Petkovic also spoke out in favor of returning a measure in view of his own negative corona experiences at the French Open. “If I had something to say, I would reintroduce the mask indoors,” said the 34-year-old, but also admitted: “It’s difficult because people also want to go back to normal life. It was really hard now, two years, I can understand that.”

The Darmstadt native had been infected with the corona virus around a month before Wimbledon. “I’ve been really sick for three days and then flat for five days, I couldn’t have played like that,” said Petkovic. She assumes that she got infected in Paris, where for the first time there was no longer a mask requirement in the cabin. She initially wore a mask for the first three days. “Then people looked at me so stupidly because I was the only one.”

In Wimbledon, too, up to 42,000 spectators crowded the facility without masks, and interviews with the professionals were conducted in narrow, windowless rooms. The number of positive tests in England had risen by more than a third to over 100,000 within seven days in the previous week.