Julia Görges fought her way into the third round of the French Open with willpower and nerves of steel. The reward is now a duel with superstar Serena Williams on Saturday.
Serena Williams knows exactly what to expect in the third round of the French Open. The US tennis queen has been studying her next opponent Julia Görges intensively for a long time – albeit by chance. “While I was pregnant, I watched a lot of her matches,” said the 36-year-old in Paris: “Simply because she won so much and her games were broadcast so much.
Görges, over many years rather under the radar and her own possibilities, has long since made a name for herself in the tennis world. The 29-year-old, currently Germany’s number one in the world rankings, is one of those players who can probably beat any opponent on a good day. In Paris, she is struggling impressively out of her small performance gap, into which she fell with two unexpected first-round failures at the home games in Stuttgart and Nuremberg.
With nerves of steel, playful flexibility and a good portion of willpower, Görges has so far held himself harmless in Roland Garros. In her 7-5, 7-6 (7-5) against the Belgian Alison van Uytvanck on Thursday evening, for example, she could not be stopped by a dislocated neck roll. She had already convincingly mastered her tricky opening hurdle against former top 10 player Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia).
The reward is now an appearance on the very big stage. A game against the most successful tennis player in history, who is even a little more than usual in the focus of her Grand Slam comeback after a 13-month baby break. Despite the extraordinary circumstances, Görges is striving for normality. “I think the name Williams is very important to Grand Slams”, she said: “Nevertheless, one should part with the name a little. I want to play my game normally.”
Görges and Williams have met twice so far: in 2010 also at the French Open and in 2011 in Toronto. Both times, the 23-time Grand Slam winner kept the upper hand without losing a set. This time, however, the signs are different. After all, Williams is far from back in top form after her long break.
In addition to Görges, two other German women’s tennis players have the chance to reach the round of 16 on Saturday. Angelique Kerber (Kiel/No. 12) has to deal with Dutch sand court specialist Kiki Bertens (Netherlands/No. 18), Andrea Petkovic (Darmstadt) also expects a highlight against world number one Simona Halep (Romania).
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