WTA: Anna-Lena Friedsam back in play after two shoulder surgeries

Anna-Lena Friedsam is back in play after two shoulder surgeries.

“Here I am! Back on the court – with a smile and my first victory,” the 24-year-old wrote to Instagram these days and posted a picture in which she was visibly satisfied and relieved, both thumbs up. In their first match after a long injury break, Friedsam had scored an important point for their French club TC Cormontreuil.

And most importantly, the shoulder, which was operated on at the end of 2016 and in April 2018, withstood the strain of the two and a half hour game.

The right-hander from Oberdürenbach in Rhineland-Palatinate returned to the tour in September 2017 after the first operation and a year’s break. With her tournament victory at the 25,000 US dollar ITF event in Shrewsbury, England, shortly before the end of the season, “Friedi” had nurtured hopes for a successful tennis year 2018.

However, the anticipation did not last long. The symptoms became acute again. Her opening defeat against Angelique Kerber (0:6, 4:6) at the Australian Open in January 2018 was Friedsam’s last match on the WTA Tour so far.

Friedsam is currently in position 391 of the WTA ranking. Before her time of suffering, she had made it to 45th place and, among other things, in 2016, in her narrowly lost round of sixteen at the Major in Melbourne against Agnieszka Radwanska (Poland), then fourth in the world rankings.