Angelique Kerber attacks as well as Naomi Osaka, Ons Jabeur and Maria Sakkari

Spectacular start to the main round of the ecotrans Ladies Open. Reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova has advanced to the round of 16 with her commanding 6:4, 6:3 victory over the valiantly resisting qualifier Rebeka Masarova. And now it's straight on to "Super Tuesday"!

A tennis day of superlatives lies ahead.

Whichever way you look at the list, it reads great either way: Angelique Kerber, Naomi Osaka and Victoria Azarenka have all been world number one and have won nine Grand Slam tournaments between them. Maria Sakkari is the best Greek player of all time and China's greatest tennis hope Qinwen Zheng is also in the mix. And Ons Jabeur? Superstar, Wimbledon finalist for the past two years, inspiration for millions in the African and Arabic-speaking world. The Tunisian won in Berlin 2022, a coup she would love to repeat. Donna Vekic was only stopped in the final in 2023 (by Petra Kvitova). The Croatian will now make her next attempt at the title at the grass court spectacle at the Steffi Graf Stadium at LTTC "Rot-Weiß" e. V., which is endowed with 922,573 US dollars.

Naomi Osaka's popularity goes far beyond the sport. And - quite similar to Angelique Kerber - the Japanese player is also trying to play her way back to the top after her pregnancy.

To do so, she needs wins against top players. A suitable opportunity now presents itself: China's Qinwen Zheng (21 years old, WTA rank 8). The score is 1:1 after the two matches so far, with Zheng most recently winning in Rome. Now this duel will open the tennis day in the Steffi Graf Stadium on Tuesday at 11 am.
Of course, all eyes will be on Angelique Kerber's Berlin appearance,she will play for a place in the round of 16 directly after Naomi Osaka. A very difficult task for her: the 19-year-old Czech Linda Noskova. Kerber promises: "I will do my best." She is full of ambition, presented herself in top shape and absolutely focused during training in Berlin.
The duel between Maria Sakkari and Victoria Azarenka, i.e. between the number nine and number 19 in the world rankings, seems quite open. However, Azarenka is a fearful opponent for the dynamic Greek, having won all three of her previous matches.

Ons Jabeur has been one of the absolute crowd favorites in Berlin ever since the Tunisian won here in 2022 and her huge following in the stands spread a great atmosphere over many days. So it is only right that she will play the fourth and final match of the day in the Steffi Graf Stadium. There, Jabeur will face Xinyu Wang for the first time in her career. The Chinese player (WTA rank 40) is still without a tournament win at WTA level in singles, but triumphed in doubles at the French Open 2023 and is not an opponent to be underestimated.

Jule Niemeier, the other German alongside Angelique Kerber, will start the singles competition on Tuesday at 11 a.m. on Court 1 against Donna Vekic, the 2023 finalist. Niemeier was already in doubles action on Monday alongside Noma Noha Akugue, with the German duo winning 4:6, 6:4 and 10:6 in a match tiebreak against Japan's Eri Hozumi and Makoto Ninomiya.

Before Niemeier/Akugue's acclaimed doubles triumph, Daria Kasatkina (WTA ranked 14) and the Ukrainian Maria Kostyuk (WTA ranked 16) had played a thrilling match, which Kasatkina ultimately won 4-6, 7-6 and 6-3. Qualifier Nao Hibino (Japan) put up a passionate fight against Anna Kalinskaya, but still lost 6:2, 4:6 and 2:6.

Surprisingly qualifier Katerina Siniakova (WTA ranked 30) made it through to the round of 16 with her 6:4, 6:3 win over Emma Navarro (WTA ranked 17).

The "Super Tuesday" starts at 11 am.