Bernarda Pera triumphs at the Rothenbaum in Hamburg

At the moment of her sporting triumph, Bernarda Pera thought of her former coach Kristijan Schneider, who died in April. “The tennis world has suffered a great loss and I would like to dedicate this trophy to it”, the American said in a staggering voice on Center Court at the award ceremony for her title win at the Hamburg European Open. It was perhaps the most emotional moment at the 2022 Hamburg European Open.

Pera crowned her sporting dream path of the past two weeks with a surprisingly clear 6:2, 6:4 victory over top-ranked world ranking second Anett Kontaveit (Estonia). The victory in Budapest was followed by the success at the Rothenbaum. Twelve winning matches without losing a set, the impressive success series of the 27-year-olds is already continuing. “It was so much fun to play here”, said Pera, “Hamburg is a beautiful city, the crowd was great and I hope to be able to come back next year. ”

The American, born in Croatia and now living in her hometown of Zadar, will climb to number 54 in the world ranking next Monday. She’s never been better in her career. In Hamburg she was ranked 81st. The win against Kontaveit was the second win against a top ten player in her career.

Pera was the best player in the final with the great self-confidence of the last few weeks and won absolutely rightfully. Kontaveit also saw it this way: “You played great and absolutely deserved it. ” With a lot of pressure, aggressive returns and almost error-free basic shots, the left-handed woman dominated the match. In the first game she took Kontaveit off the serve and broke it again to 5:2.

In the second round, Pera won her opponent’s serve twice, 3:2 and 5:2. When it was to be discarded, it seemed a little insecure for the first time, Kontaveit had meanwhile significantly reduced its errors and was able to shorten them. Pera then kept her nerves and used her first matchball in a high-class women’s final after 74 minutes.