Two and a half weeks before the start of the French Open, Angelique Kerber is in good shape. The three-time Grand Slam tournament winner won the Masters 1000 tournament in Rome against number 17 seed Weronika Kudermetowa with a surprisingly clear score of 6:3, 6:0 and is now in the third round. Kerber had already beaten the Russian in two sets in Indian Wells. In the first round of the men's competition, Dominik Koepfer defeated the Italian Andrea Vavassori 6:4, 6:3.

At the clay court tournament, Kerber seamlessly continued her strong performance in the first round against the American Lauren Davis, whom she defeated 6:1, 6:0. In the first set she managed the decisive break to make it 5:3, and in the second round the 36-year-old was unstoppable. After just 70 minutes, Kerber converted her first match point.

For Kerber it is the first tournament since the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart in April, when she failed in the first round due to health problems against the British Emma Raducanu. Afterwards she decided to take a short break to recover from the effects of a cold and to “do proper clay court preparation”. Kerber returned to the tour around the turn of the year after an 18-month maternity leave.

Out for Maria and Altmaier

Tatjana Maria, however, was eliminated in the second round. The 36-year-old had to admit defeat to the Russian Darja Kassatkina 5:7, 1:6.

In the men's category, Jan-Lennard Struff prevailed against Argentina's Pedro Cachin. The 34-year-old from Warstein won the first round 6:4, 6:4 and needed 1:17 hours. Struff will face the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round. Daniel Altmaier, on the other hand, lost 4:6, 4:6 against Luca Nardi from Italy and was eliminated.