The Hamburg native is in top form in Cincinnati—and could knock out the next local hero.
Tennis hopeful Ella Seidel is looking forward to the most important match of her career so far after her surprise victory over world number 11 Emma Navarro. “I just want to have fun on the court. I’m playing against an American again, so the atmosphere will be great,” said Seidel ahead of her third-round match at the 1000-series tournament in Cincinnati. She will face 29th seed Caty McNally from the US.
“It’s a lot of fun. The matches have been very good and my level is getting better and better,” said Seidel, who is having an impressive run in the dress rehearsal for the US Open (starting August 24). She won two qualifying matches, then the 20-year-old from Hamburg beat Russia’s Polina Kudermetowa and then, in a complete surprise, Navarro. The 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 victory over last year’s US Open semifinalist was the biggest success of Seidel’s career.
Seidel, who is considered a promising talent, is the last representative of a quartet of German players at the $5.15 million tournament in Ohio. Wimbledon quarter-finalist Laura Siegemund (Metzingen) was already eliminated in the first round of the US Open warm-up tournament in New York in the second half of August, before former Wimbledon semi-finalist Tatjana Maria (Bad Saulgau) and Eva Lys (Hamburg) had to bury their hopes in the round of 64.
