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| Former World No. 1 Angelique Kerber clenches her fist during the second round of the BNP Paribas Open. |
Angelique Kerber held in through a tough battle to win again at the BNP Paribas Open Friday. Jelena Ostapenko gave it her all against the tennis veteran, who made her return something special in a three-set fight that went the way of the German 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 on Stadium 2 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
The two met for the first time in three years when they played twice and split wins in Rome and Cincinnati. The German holds the lead after three matches but faced an active Latvian, who has 16 wins under her belt this season. Ostapenko’s consistency slowed down last month, losing in Dubai in the third round. Her time at Indian Wells has been successful, looking forward to getting in position to surpass the second round. Kerber did well against Petra Martic, taking the victory by a comfortable stance on the court. If her timing works out, she could down the tenth seed and climb on in the California desert.
She battled in her attempt to take advantage of Ostapenko’s early double fault. They got to deuce where Kerber had a break point but saw it countered and clinched by the tenth seed. They went through three games of serve with Kerber in control of her serve, while Ostapenko battled the second serve. Aces came through for the tenth seed, but double faults were still an issue. The Latvian scored the break, but the German broke back to sit a game down after five.
The 36-year-old battled the aces and winners from Ostapenko, but her second serve remained a problem. Though it opened the door for Kerber, the 26-year-old fought through five breaks but couldn’t hold off the loss of serve. The German got things leveled after six and made it 4-3 on a break to love of the tenth seed. She made it 5-3 and served for the set, only to suffer a break in the tenth. The Latvian was back in charge, blasting the right balls to hold the 11th and regain a 6-5 lead.
In a perfect response, Ostapenko fired winning returns to smash Kerber on serve in the 12th, completing the comeback of trailing midway through the set that took 49 minutes. The tenth seed won 15 of the last 18 played in the set. The first serve was her major success, serving 65 percent of shots despite four double faults. The aces and winners were able to downplay her problems and reel herself in.
In the second set, it was Ostapenko early on taking a grip of the competition against Kerber. The 36-year-old tried to destabilize her opponent in the third, achieving the break late, bringing an end to the winning streak. After two games, Kerber got into the lead, scoring the double break on Ostapenko. The Latvian tried to deny her opponent a hold of serve but didn’t produce enough break points to counter.
Ostapenko held the seventh, but the double faults continued to rattle her. Kerber took it upon herself to make a change in scoring, serving the Latvian to love. In the ninth, after the tenth seed scored, the German took the next four straight points to bring into action a decider, taking 42 minutes to level the match. Ostapenko’s second serve remained a mess, serving 26 percent from it and a lower output of aces.
Kerber had her chance to dictate but struggled to hold back her opponent. The Latvian rallied the breakpoints to score the early lead, but her efforts didn’t roll forward. Ostapenko suffered a bad service in the second, gifting the win to the 36-year-old. The Latvian thought she was facing a second loss to Kerber, but her efforts paid off to lead 2-1. Kerber locked down the fourth straight break of service, then backed it up with a shutout of the tenth seed.
The Latvian leveled back and suffered a setback in the seventh, losing her chance to run off. The fight was still on in the eighth, as the two traded off points and remained so close. It was just one break of deuce until Kerber clinched the penultimate break and serve for the match. The points traded off to one another until the 36-year-old reached match point. It went sour on a winning return from Ostapenko, bringing them to deuce.
After three deuces, the German watched a return go into the net from Ostapenko, bringing up a fourth attempt. She forced an error from the tenth seed to take a massive upset in hand that took 2 hours and 13 minutes.
