Match point averted: Lilli Tagger is in the second round of Miami

Tagger fended off a match point in the tough baseline fight at 4:5 in the third set and then used her first to win over number 86 in the WTA ranking. Seidel had lost in the qualification, but then slipped into the competition due to a rejection. It was Tagger’s second victory at the highest WTA Tour level, moving her up to 106th in the live ranking.

Tagger missed two set points in the first set

Tagger was the first player to give up her service at 1:2, but managed the rebreak to make it 4:4. She then fended off three break points, and the first set went into a tiebreak. In this, Francesca Schiavone’s protégé missed two set points and lost it 8:10 after 70 minutes. In the second round, a break was enough for Tagger to make it 4:3, this time she used the first set point to tie the game after 1:50 hours.

In the decision, Tagger fell almost 3-1 behind after a break to make it 1-0, but fended off the Germans’ next break chance. Seidel then managed to take serve from last year’s Junior French Open winner to make it 4-2. Tagger got the immediate rebreak, but then had to fend off a match point from Seidel at 4:5. It was the only one left by the 21-year-olds, eight minutes later the game was decided in Tagger’s favor.

No happy ending for Kraus

Kraus couldn’t look forward to a happy ending at her premiere in the main competition of a 1000 event. The almost 24-year-old Viennese, who qualified for a tournament in this category for the first time, made up 2:5 against Parks in the first set before losing it. In the second round she was well on course to equalize the set, leading 4-0, but her opponent managed to turn things around again. Kraus saved herself in the tiebreak with a zero service game at 5:6, in which she fell behind from the start.

“It wasn’t an easy match: first time main draw in a 1000 against an American on a big court. I was nervous before the match,” admitted Kraus. “It’s a shame it didn’t work out.” But she will also take self-confidence with her. “I definitely know that I belong here and that I can play at this level.”