Fear opponent Azarenka again too strong for Angelique Kerber
Played well and yet lost: Angelique Kerber missed the quarter-finals at the comeback of the WTA tournament in Berlin. The three-time Grand Slam winner had to admit defeat to her feared opponent Victoria Azarenka (Belarus / No. 7) 3: 6 and 5: 7 on grass after 1:23 hours,
by SID / tennisnet
last edit: Jun 17, 2021, 02:34 pm
At over 30 degrees in the glowing furnace of the Steffi Graf Stadium, Kerber showed perhaps her best performance of the season on her favorite surface, but Azarenka had the better answer ready at the crucial moments.
Kerber, who made two double mistakes, also did not use her chances consistently enough, the former Wimbledon winner left three break chances. 4: 1 and 5: 3 she was temporarily ahead in the second set, but in the end the necessary killer instinct against an aggressive Azarenka was missing.
Kerber: Azarenka remains (almost) an impossible task
Kerber has lost ten of her eleven matches with the former world number one. She only won the Australian Open 2016 - and then won her first Grand Slam tournament there.
Kerber, who was unable to put any pressure on Azarenka after her second serves, was eliminated as the show horse of the tournament if, thanks to a new Corona regulation in Berlin, 1000 spectators a day will be admitted to the facility from Friday, instead of the previous 500.
Azarenka had already won against Andrea Petkovic in round 1. She meets Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic / No. 4) or Jessica Pegula (USA) in the quarter-finals.
Here the single tableau in Berlin
berlinmap