Australian Open: Angelique Kerber often too timid - out in the round of 16
After a tough struggle, Angelique Kerber missed the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.
by SID
last edit: Jan 27, 2020, 11:58 am
The 2016 tournament winner lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova from Russia 7: 6 (7: 5), 6: 7 (4: 7), 2: 6. The 32-year-old from Kiel last reached the round of eight in a Grand Slam when she won Wimbledon in 2018.
Kerber had her best phases against Pavlyuchenkova when she played bravely and aggressively. In the decisive moments, however, she was often too timid. After 2:37 hours, the Russian seeded number 30 converted her first match ball with an ace. It was her 71st direct point win, Kerber only managed 35 wins. The Russian now meets Garbine Muguruza from Spain, winner at Wimbledon 2017 and at the French Open 2016.
The match didn't start well for Kerber. She already lost her serve in the third game, after which she struggled to catch herself. Pavlyuchenkova kept pushing her across the square, and she hardly managed to put the Russian under pressure. Her service games were a tremendous game, the Kieler received another break for 2: 5.
After that, however, Kerber was suddenly better in the match, was more active and aggressive and forced Pavlyuchenkova to make mistakes. Her own breaks came promptly, she won four games in a row to 6: 5, then did not get discouraged by a 0: 3 in the tie-break and used her first set ball. Kerber immediately raised both fists and let out a cheer.
The second set was another tough struggle. Kerber always got into trouble if she didn't attack the balls bravely enough. This was her doom in the tie-break - previously she had fought three sets of balls at a score of 4: 5 and 5: 6. In the first game of the third set Kerber lost her serve again, immediately afterwards a second time. After that, she could not make the turn.