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| 01 Jul 2003 | |
| Coining it in. Steinberger uses Becker’s lucky penny to maul Murray |
By Eleanor Preston
German qualifier Peter Steinberger caused one of the upsets of the second round by beating British tenth seed Andrew Murray 6-4
6-4 and afterwards said he owed it all to a lucky coin given to him by Wimbledon legend Boris Becker.
Becker, who is working at Wimbledon as a television commentator, gave the coin to Steinberger’s coach for the player to use as a lucky charm. “I kept it in my pocket for the whole match,” said Steinberger afterwards, “It worked so now I will have to keep it.”
Steinberger admitted he did not expect to beat the Briton on his home turf, despite the fact that he won three matches in the Wimbledon qualifying competition at Roehampton. “It helps to play a lot but the grass in Roehampton is different to Wimbledon, because it’s not so fast here,” he said. The match was interrupted by heavy showers at the start of the second set but far from being distracted, Steinberger’s play went from strength to strength after the break. “I talked to my coach and relaxed a little bit and when we came back I felt so much more confident,” he said.
Steinberger is too young to have seen Becker win his first Wimbledon title as a 17-year-old in 1985 (he was six months old at the time) but grew up watching the Championships on television – mostly following his idol Andre Agassi. No wonder he felt inspired to find himself playing on the historic courts of SW19.
“I always saw Wimbledon and felt special about it but I never thought I would ever play here,” he said. “It is like a dream just to be here and to win my first round match is already more than I expected.”
Steinberger, who takes on Australia’s Robert Smeets in the second round, is part of the same squad (put together by the DTB – the German Tennis Federation) as Sebastian Rieschick and Michael Zverev who both joined their team-mate in the second round. Rieschick beat the USA’s Robert Cameron 6-1 6-0, while Zverev knocked out No.3 seed Dudi Sela 6-4 6-4.
“It’s great to be part of a group because we can relax and have fun away from the tennis, I think we help each other,” said Steinberger.
In other results, Devin Mullings (BAH), Chris Kwon (USA), Matthew Montcourt (FRA), Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) and the tournament’s top seed Tomas Berdych (CZE) all scored wins. Berdych beat Australia’s Adam Feeney 6-4 6-1.
16th seed David Brewer is out though. The Briton was beaten in straight sets by Luis Flores of Mexico 62 64.
Top seed Sunitha Rao made her mark on the girls’ tournament with a 6-3 6-0 win over Timea Bacsinszky (SUI). “I was able to step up, make my shots and control the tennis out there,” said Rao, who faces New Zealand’s Eden Marama in the third round. “When you come into an event as top seed people look at you and automatically expect that you are going to win, but I feel with the results I’ve had lately and the way I can play that I don’t have anything to prove right now. I’m just going to try to improve my game here, get more experience and try to enjoy Wimbledon as much as possible. I’ll just take things as they come.”
In other girls’ results, Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) earned herself a notable scalp by beating fifth seed Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) 6-2 6-7 7-5. Tatiana Golovin (FRA), Michaela Krajicek (NED), and in-form American Ally Baker all scored wins.
Photos by Susan Mullane
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