Angelique
Kerber defeated the former world n°1 Ana Ivanovic in just two sets to conquer
her first title of the year.
Her run to
the title has been impressive; after the first set lost to Monica Niculescu in
her opening match, ‘Angie’ didn't drop a single set all the way through to the
title.
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| ©Jimmie48 |
The world
n°9 showed great attitude throughout the week, ignoring the major media
attention gathered by her last-minute entry, to the detriment of Austrian WC
Lisa-Maria Moser (for more on this story click here).
In addition
to that, there was much pressure on her shoulders, since any result better than
a Quarter Final would have meant the mathematical assurance to be qualified for
the year-ending masters in Istanbul.
As a result,
her QF match against local WC Patricia Mayr-Achleitner was tougher than the
score line would suggest. Furthermore, the Austrian was playing some brilliant
tennis heading to the match and had her chances in the first set, but Kerber
reacted well and finished the match in total control.
The semi-final
was a complete dominance by the German, who gave only two games to the world
number 18, Spaniard Carla Suarez-Navarro.
This result
and the great show of form and consistency in the past weeks set Kerber as the
favourite in the final as well, despite trailing 3-1 in the head to head with
Ivanovic.
The final
resulted in a rollercoaster. Kerber started with the right mindset, taking the
initiative whenever possible and exploiting her terrific defence to neutralise
Ivanovic’s initial shots, especially off her forehand.
Suddenly
the Serb’s shot increased in speed and accuracy, so in a blink of an eye, she
won three games in a row to tie at 4-all.
It was then
another big reaction from the German who broke Ivanovic for the third time of
the set and went on serving the set out 6-4.
The second
set witnessed a bit of everything, with the Serb starting with a ten-point-in-a-row
streak, before surrendering to the massive comeback of Kerber, which led to a
5-4 40-0 lead on her serve. Swiftly, Ivanovic noticed the more passive attitude
of her opponent and took advantage of it, saved all the match points, and broke
back.
On 6-5 for
the Serb, Kerber suffered a bad call that helped Ivanovic gain two set points,
but instead of arguing, the German decided to fix the situation with a massive
serve and a huge forehand down-the-line winner, to clear the set points and go
to the tiebreak.
Once again
Ana Ivanovic started strongly and went up 6-4, but similarly to the previous game,
Kerber could find her best focus on the important points, while the Serb melted
fast once those two more set points were gone. The fourth match point, the
first in the tiebreak, was the final one, gifted by the Serb with a backhand
error, which cost her the match and gave to Kerber the first title of year.
Originally posted on the sports gazette
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