Rising star
BERLIN: After a season that promised so much, Bayern Munich have been sent packing from two Cup competitions in the space of eight days and Carlo Ancelotti’s side are determined to take a step closer to the league title when they travel to VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday.
A Bayern win combined with defeat for second-placed RB Leipzig against relegation candidates Ingolstadt would give them an unassailable 11-point lead with three games remaining.
After crashing out of the Champions League quarterfinals to Real Madrid and then losing to Borussia Dortmund in Wednesday’s German PRAGUE: Czech teen sensation Marketa Vondrousova was being hailed as a rising star in the mould of tennis great Martina Navratilova after climbing 119 places in the WTA rankings in just two weeks.
Ranked 233rd, Vondrousova won her maiden WTA title at the Biel/Bienne Open on April 16, rising to the top from qualifying.
A week later, she managed her Fed Cup debut in the Czech Republic’s defeat at the hands of the United States, losing to 23rdranked Coco Vandeweghe and beating world number 35 Lauren Davis.
“It’s all terribly quick now,” the 17-yearold world number 114 told reporters in Prague on Thursday, ahead of her next tournament starting in the Czech capital on May 1. “I guess I still haven’t realised what I’ve achieved.”
The left-handed teenager — former world number one in the junior class — has had to review her plans for the season after earning a spot in Grand Slam qualifying. and we are fighting to win the Bundesliga. Of course we are disappointed to go out of the Cup. It was an important competition. “We have to focus on the next game and try to win the Bundesliga as soon as possible.”
Wolfsburg will be no pushovers though, with the 2009 champions hovering a point above the relegation playoff spot.
Coach Andries Jonker, a former Bayern interim manager, rested nine players early this week to keep his team fresh for the relegation battle and closed off Thursday’s training to the public and media ahead of their big game.
Promoted Leipzig, in second place on 62 points, can make sure of an automatic Champions League spot next season with a win over visitors Ingolstadt.
Borussia Dortmund, in third (56 points), host European hopefuls Cologne while Hoffenheim, in fourth (55 points), entertain German Cup finalists Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.