At the Süwag Energie Arena in Frankfurt, Manika Batra’s WTT Champions campaign ended at the first hurdle as the Indian No. 1 went down 0–3 to Germany’s rising star Annett Kaufmann in the women’s singles Round of 32.
The straight-games defeat 5–11, 5–11, 7–11 told the story of a match in which Kaufmann’s early initiative, clean receive, and tight placement repeatedly disarmed Batra’s plans before they could take hold.
The opening game began evenly enough. Batra, serving first, used the pimples-out forehand to jam Kaufmann with shorter, lower-bouncing balls and matched the German to 2–2 and then 4–4. From there, the tone flipped. Kaufmann adjusted to the pips, stepped around to take the ball earlier on the backhand, and reeled off a run of points that Batra couldn’t halt.
The German’s receive game was the separator: she kept dipping pushes and flat counters to Batra’s crossover, forcing half-steps that left the Indian either late to the ball or reaching with a passive block. Kaufmann closed the game 11–5, pocketing six of the final seven points with a mix of deep backhand counters and sudden forehand punches down the line.
Needing a foothold, Batra looked to vary service patterns in game two short to the forehand, then fast to the body to draw higher balls for the first hit. Kaufmann stayed unmoved. A pair of crisp backhand counters gave her a 3–1 lead, and when Batra tried to slow the tempo with heavier forehand rolls, the German simply accelerated through contact, taking time away again.
The scoreboard slid to 1–5 and then 2–7 as Kaufmann repeatedly found Batra’s elbows. Batra did land a mini-run with two proactive points at 3–7—one a brave forehand hit into the open wing—but Kaufmann’s rhythm on receive prevented the Indian from stringing together momentum. The German reached game point at 10–5 and finished 11–5 with another early-taken backhand that kissed the white line.
Down 0–2, Batra came out in the third with clearer intent to play first ball. She dug in on the return, chipping shorter and wider to shift Kaufmann off the table, and for the first time the rallies stretched. At 2–2 and 3–3, Batra’s forehand found a better height; a flat kill into the backhand corner and a punch-block drew applause from the Indian fans courtside. Kaufmann, though, has already spent a season breaking open matches at this level.
She reset with a subtle change more side-spin on the first open-up then picked on Batra’s backhand block, dragging the ball wide to the corner before switching inside-out. Four points in a row took her from 3–3 to 7–3.
Sensing the set slipping, Batra called timeout at 4–5 after clawing one back. Coach and athlete discussed playing earlier off the bounce and aiming deeper into the German’s forehand pocket. It briefly helped. Batra trimmed the gap to 5–6 and 6–6, her best stretch of the match, the quality built on a braver first swing and a couple of excellent deep serves that Kaufmann pushed long.
But at 6–6 Kaufmann resumed control, seizing the next three points with a fine serve to the body, a reflex backhand counter, and a quick step-around drive that pinned Batra down the middle.
Two match points came at 10–6. Batra saved the first with a firm forehand into the open space, but the margin for error had gone. Kaufmann closed 11–7, completing a compact, professional performance in 47 minutes.
For Batra, the numbers were stark. She never led past 4–4 in the opener, faced game points at 5–10 in the first two games, and was constantly fighting from behind in the third.
More telling than the scoreline was the pattern: Kaufmann won the serve/receive battle outright. On Batra’s service, the German’s first touch was consistently aggressive or deceptively short, denying the Indian the chance to run the familiar second-ball forehand hit.
On return, Batra struggled to keep the ball low enough to prevent Kaufmann’s early backhand counter, a shot that set the geometry of almost every rally.
There were still flashes to keep. In the third game, Batra’s decision to take on the first ball and stand closer to the table created the only sustained period in which the German looked briefly uncomfortable. The flat forehand kill worked when she committed to it; the next step is to access that pattern earlier and more often.
Against an opponent who loves pace and timing, Batra also found some value in deeper, slower spins to the shoulder line. It’s a reminder that variety, not just speed, is the lever against compact European backhand styles.
Kaufmann advances with authority a clinical 3–0 over a top Asian opponent on a premium stage carrying with her the confidence of a player whose adjustments are immediate and whose backhand timing is elite.
Batra exits earlier than she would have wanted, but the loss comes with clear, actionable tape: sharpen the first two balls, reclaim the body channel, and build the third-ball forehand earlier in the count. With a dense run of events ahead on the calendar, the opportunity to apply those fixes comes quickly.
In Frankfurt, the margins were small in the opening exchanges and then widened by superior receive. On a night when the German found every edge of the table, Manika Batra was left chasing timing and space she never quite recovered.
