Niemeier upsets Sakkari, Blinkova ousts Andreescu in Bad Homburg

The first round of the Bad Homburg Open saw two of the Top 4 seeds taking on German lucky losers; and while No.4 Beatriz Haddad Maia

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Bad Homburg: Scores | Draws | Order of play

Haddad Maia will next face Anna Blinkova

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View Profile . Former US Open champion Andreescu, who is playing the third tournament of her comeback from a back injury, reached her second grass-court final two weeks ago in 's-Hertogenbosch. However, the Canadian was unable to reproduce that form as she fell in an error-strewn 75 minutes.

Niemeier's win is the former Wimbledon quarterfinalist's fourth career Top 10 victory, three of which have come on grass. Previously, the 24-year-old had defeated Anett Kontaveit at Wimbledon 2022 and Ons Jabeur

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Sakkari had originally been slated to face Elisabetta Cocciaretto

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However, Niemeier began to find her range with a series of pummelling forehands and delicate volleys, dominating the next two sets to advance to a 5-3 third-set lead. Her play became edgy as she attempted to close out the win, and Niemeier netted a backhand on her first match point at 6-5. But she held her nerve in the tiebreak, which concluded with two consecutive Sakkari double faults.

Sakkari is now on a four-match losing streak dating back to Rome. Niemeier advances to face wild card Paula Badosa

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Haddad Maia had not dropped a set to Korpatsch in three previous meetings, and just about preserved that perfect record against the World No.75. The Brazilian had lost her first grass-court match of the season to Ekaterina Alexandrova

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Korpatsch began to get a foothold in the match thinks to a series of precise down-the-line winners, and saved three match points -- one down 5-4 and two more down 6-5 -- to force a second-set tiebreak. Haddad Maia advanced to a 6-2 lead, but a medical emergency in the crowd necessitated a 20-minute stoppage -- and on resumption, Korpatsch promptly saved another four to level at 6-6.

But Haddad Maia was able to recover, finding a pair of strong winners to close out the win on her eighth match point.