Near-miss spurs Jule Niemeier to second-round turnaround against Yulia Putintseva in Hamburg

FLASHBACK: Stuttgart was the only event in Germany this year where Jule Niemeier was beaten in the first round, losing to Elena Rybakina.

A tennis player's motivation is often found from either internal or external factors. Count Germany's Jule Niemeier among those who find it in the latter ... at least on Wednesday at the Hamburg European Open

Trailing sixth-seeded Yulia Putintseva by a set in their second-round match, Niemeier took exception to split-second moment the first point of the first game of the second set: As she readied for a volley at the net, the Kazakh nearly tagged her with a forehand groundstroke.

It changed everything.

"She almost hit me in the first game," Niemeier said afterwards, "so I was like, 'OK, I'm not going to lose that match.'"

It worked: Behind 48 winners to Putintseva's eight, the world No. 106 powered to a 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 win over the No. 6 seed.

In her post-match interview, Niemeier expanded upon how the moment sparked her to channel mounting frustrations towards the positive. She previously let a 5-3 lead slip in the first set, and also had a 0-40 lead on Putintseva's serve at 5-4. In all, she left five set points on the table in the opener, and smashed her racquet after losing the first set.

"I think I should've won the first set," she said. "I was really disappointed, I think you could see it. I want to apologize for destroying the racquet, that's definitely not the right way, but I'm super happy that I got the win today.

"I just tried everything. I just kept going, kept playing, played more offensive ... and that was the key."

This year, the 23-year-old German has played some of her best tennis on home soil. As a qualifier in Berlin before Wimbledon, she upset defending champion Ons Jabeur in the first round for her third career Top 10 victory, and is now through to her first quarterfinal of 2023.

It's a fitting result for the Dortmund native, who has been something of a face of Hamburg's WTA event this week. She and her fellow Germans, Andreas Mies and tournament ambassador Andrea Petkovic, as well as Casper Ruud, have participated in numerous activations around the city.

Niemeier will next face Australia's Daria Saville for a spot in her third career semifinal, and second in Hamburg after first doing so as a wild card ranked No. 167 in 2021.