WTA Indian Wells: Kerber starts with a win against Martic
Angelique Kerber entered the WTA 1000 tournament in Indian Wells with a victory. Kerber won against Petra Martic 6:3 and 6:4.
by SID
last edit: Mar 06, 2024, 09:57 pm
At the third attempt, former Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber (Kiel) celebrated her first success in an individual tournament after her baby break. At the high-class WTA tournament in Indian Wells, the 36-year-old won her opening match against the top 60 player Petra Martic from Croatia, who is three years younger, 6:3, 6:4. The former world number one's next opponent in the round of 64 at the $9.2 million tournament is the Latvian world number one Jelena Ostapenko.
For Germany's former top player, the knot broke as hoped against Martic, despite her fall in the ranking below 600th place. Before a break of several weeks, after taking part in the United Cup at the beginning of the year, Kerber made her tournament comeback as a soloist at the subsequent Australian Open after an 18-month career break, but was just as unable to master her first round task as she was at the WTA at the end of January. Tournament in Linz, Austria.
In California, Kerber gained an advantage in the first set with her second break and used her second set point after 41 minutes. In the second round, the opponents lost their service once again before Kerber broke again in the fifth game and thus practically made the decision. After a total playing time of 91 minutes, the left-hander converted her second match point.
Here is the individual tableau in Indian Wells
iwmap