The Nürnberger Versicherungscup is among the youngest tournaments on the WTA calendar, making its debut in 2013. Fittingly, the tournament is all about the young tennis talent this year as some of the WTA’s most promising youngsters have gathered in Bavaria this week.
Monday in Nürnberg kicked-off with two very promising youngsters as Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck played against Antonia Lottner. While Van Uytvanck is on the verge of breaking into the Top 100, the 17 year-old Lottner is widely regarded as one of Germany’s most promising tennis talents.
Coming back from a lengthy injury that sidelined her for several months, Nürnberg was a welcome chance for Lottner to gain some WTA experience and despite losing the match to the Belgian in straight sets, the tall young German captured the hearts of the fans and enjoyed some doubles success with experienced partner Anna-Lena Grönefeld later in the afternoon.
Next up on the center court was Genie Bouchard, kicking off her Nürnberger Verischerungscup campaign. The countless hours spent on the practice court this week seem to have paid dividends right away as Bouchard swept past Barbora Zahlavova Strycova in less than an hour, leaving the Canadian more than pleased with her performance afterwards.
Following Bouchard into the second round are Elina Svitolina and Caroline Garcia. While Svitolina won her match against Iveta Melzer in straight sets, Garcia was involved in a grueling three-setter against Julia Glushko, providing two and a half hours of exciting tennis for the fans to enjoy.
While the courts were busy outside, top seed Angelique Kerber met the media. The German #1 had plenty of good news to share, not only was she happy to report that the back issues which plagued her in Madrid & Rome are a thing of the past, Kerber also signed a new personal sponsorship deal in front of the gathered press.
Tomorrow’s the day the top seed will finally step onto the court in Nürnberg for the first time as Kerber is scheduled to play Marina Erakovic. Genie Bouchard will also be in action again, facing off with Australian Anastasia Rodionova who made the tournament’s second round after muscling her way through the qualification.
Women’s Tennis Blog will be there four you court side, covering the action up close, so keep checking back for more from Nürnberg!
