Angelique Kerber fought hard at the end to keep herself focused at the US Open. A late challenge from Mirjana Lucic-Baroni nearly led to a third set, but the world number two finished it off winning 6-2, 7-6(7) at Louis Armstrong Stadium Wednesday afternoon.
The current world number two had an easy pass through to the second round as Polona Hercog was stopped dead in her tracks by a health issue. With the first round out of the way for the German, she kept her eyes set on the possibility of becoming number one by tournament end. She knew she would get a full match out of the Croatian who put the fight against Alize Cornet to win in straight sets.
While she hasn’t been able to defeat Kerber in their last three matches, (including a huge battle in Montreal last month) the 34-year-old hoped to have a similar fight on her hands to pull off what would be considered a massive upset.
It wasn’t going that way for the Croatian as Kerber took the first pair of games before putting things into cruise control. She had to get out of her comfort zone in the third where Lucic-Baroni forced her into deuce where it went took 12 minutes and more than seven breaks to finish. In the end it was Kerber who continued to be the dominant factor on serve as well as off.
The German had a four game winning streak before her opponent made it on the board with a hold of serve. When possession went back to Kerber, she returned the margin to four games playing for the set in the seventh. It was yet another strong hold for Lucic-Baroni who stayed alive gaining her second victory and possibly a challenge onward. It was all she would get in the first set as Kerber put an end to the set winning it on three set points completing 36 minutes.
The two changed the pace of the match and outdid each other on service. Kerber immediately took the lead overpowering the Croatian but soon found herself facing similar adversity. As the dust settled between the players, it was Kerber coming out with complete focus and control of the set. She went on to take the next three inching closer to victory.
In a surprise to Kerber and her supporters, Lucic-Baroni made a stunning comeback that led to the set becoming seriously out of the German’s hands. The Croatian struck back three in a row giving Kerber a fight to the end as the two became deadlocked for the remainder of the set. With things tied through ten games, it was anyone’s to win as either one had to win seven to win the set. Both made strong endings to their service holds setting up a pivotal tiebreaker.
It was a tight race to seven points with Lucic-Baroni continuing to strike first. Kerber matched every point as she had the chance to end the match. It came on an overtake on the points taking an 8-7 lead before clinching the match point after 92 minutes. “She (Lucic Baroni) is always fighting until the last point,” Kerber said to Andrew Krasny about the second set. “She played better and better during the match so I was trying to stay positive, trying to be focused and fighting until the last point. It’s nice to be into the next round.”
She’ll continue to play the stronger opponent facing the winner between Americans Shelby Rogers and Catherine Bellis on Friday.
Photo by: Elsa/Getty Images
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