Stuttgart – Tennis player Laura Siegemund will not play in the upcoming big clay court tournaments in Madrid and Rome after her long injury break.
She will instead play smaller tournaments in Wiesbaden and Karlsruhe, the 34-year-old from Metzingen announced after her quarter-final exit at her home tournament in Stuttgart. After her knee operation and a longer injury break, the Swabian is looking for playing practice. At smaller tournaments, the chances of advancing and playing more matches are greater.
The reason for not playing in Madrid and Rome is also that she would have to use her protected ranking position to participate there. Due to her compulsory break, she has dropped to 231st place in the world rankings. According to WTA regulations, she can register for eight tournaments with her so-called protected ranking (57). The ranking position is decisive for whether one can take part in a tournament. At the bigger events, however, she would probably have to compete in the qualifiers.
In Stuttgart, the Swabian was the only German player to reach the quarter-finals, but lost to Russian Lyudmila Samsonova 5:7, 3:6. “I think this was the first step on a long way to get back into the top 100,” she said: “This is my first big goal so that I can be in the main draw at Grand Slams and so on. She has shown that she “belongs in the top 50 again” when she is healthy.
