[ad_1]
Laura Ludwig cries sitting in her chair next to the field. The German Olympic champion in Rio in 2016 ended her suffering a few minutes before and lost the quarter-finals to Joana Heidrich and Anouk Vergé-Dépré. In the tiebreak at 4:11 behind.
The drama in the decisive sentence: Even in the short break before the start, the 34-year-old received a treatment on her back. When the Swiss lead 3-0 in no time, Ludwig takes a medical break for a new back treatment. Or at least I think so. Because after 30 seconds, that is, a normal time-out, the referee whistles the duo back onto the field. Vergé-Dépré is ready to serve.
Referee rejects medical rest
But the German refuses, emphasizing that she has taken a five-minute medical break and that the hard, wet sand is bothering her. The referee, however, rejects it, probably because he doubts that Ludwig’s back is pinched. So she has no choice but to keep playing, although she can barely jump out of the sand.
Swiss women do their thing, book point by point. After 11: 4 Ludwig stays in the sentence, holding on to the ankle. His discussions with the referee begin again. And after he explained the requirements for a medical time out, the German interrupts the game and cannot contain her emotions.
Rise after the roller coaster, before the drama
Heidrich and Vergé-Dépré need a moment before they can wait for the semifinals. “We regret the outcome of this game, which was a roller coaster for us at the beginning,” says Vergé-Dépré. With this, the defender means the lightning start in the first sentence towards a 5-1 lead. But then Ludwig and former indoor player Maggie Kozuch (33) get up and put the opening set at 21:17.
However, after the renewed lightning start in the second set, “JoAnouk” did not give up the lead. They have brought more calm and precision to their game and put so much pressure on the Germans that they either make many mistakes of their own or can no longer find solutions.
In the semifinals at 6.15 pm Swiss time, Heidrich and Vergé-Dépré will face Czech Hermannova / Slukova, number 6 on the seeded list.
