Two-time grand slam champion Angelique Kerber battled back from a set down to defeat Johanna Konta 1-6, 6-1, 6-3, at the Doha Open.
Kerber, who reached the final of the tournament back in 2014, overcame a stern scare at the start of the match by breaking her opponent five times. Initially, it was Wimbledon semifinalist Konta that was dominating the proceedings. The second game of the opening set was vital, as the Brit created a succession of break points on the Kerber serve and finally grabbed the fifth with a short-angled backhand into the open court.
After getting that first break, Konta was relentless. She repeatedly pinned Kerber back behind the baseline with powerful groundstrokes, which created plenty of opportunities for her to hit some of the angled winners which have become something of a trademark.
There were moments of finesse from Konta too. During one rally, she drew Kerber in and then expertly lobbed the ball over her head and into the corner for a winner. It was a great display of tennis from the Brit and she deservedly won the set 6-1.
However, everything changed in the second set as Kerber upped her aggression and started to go for her shots a lot more. It paid off immediately, as she broke Konta in the second game and stormed into a 3-0 lead.
The Briton steeled herself to hold for 1-3, but that was the last game she won in the set as the two-time Grand Slam champion took it 6-1 to force a decider. She even turned the tables on Konta by producing an excellent lob of her own to earn a break point in the sixth game.
Kerber picked up where she left off at the start of the third set. She won the first point with a cross-court forehand winner to set the tone, and was then gifted an early break after Konta made two consecutive errors from 30-all.
The Briton hit back to break the German in the fifth game, but it was only a temporary respite for Konta as Kerber broke her to love in game seven and then to fifteen in game nine to win the set 6-3.
“In the first set I was not playing my tennis and needed a bit of time to find my rhythm,” Kerber said in her on-court interview. “From the second set I was trying to play my game, playing point by point. It’s always tough to play against Johanna, she’s such a good player so I was trying to go for it in the third set.”
Wozniacki awaits
The German’s victory sets up a fascinating quarter-final encounter with Caroline Wozniacki, who battled back from a break down in the first set to beat Monica Niculescu 7-5 6-1.
The Dane initially raced into a 4-1 lead, but Niculescu drew on all her variations to bamboozle the World No.1 and surprise everyone watching by winning four games in a row to give herself a chance to serve for the set.
Wozniacki responded like a true champion, however, and won nine of the next ten games to seal an important win that ensures she holds onto top spot in the world rankings for now.
Speaking after the match, the Australian Open champion explained that she had been unhappy with Niculescu’s grunting on court. She said in her press conference that the Romanian is ‘a player that tries to get into your head’.
Sport24 reported that she told Danish TV: ‘I just tried to let him (the umpire) know to pay attention to her grunting because she’ll hit the ball and two seconds later when the ball is on my side and I’m right about to hit, she’ll start grunting and make a noise.’
Wozniacki continued, ‘And she will change the grunt according to what she feels like.’ When the Dane was asked if she thought the grunting was deliberate, she said, ‘I think that she didn’t do it in the second set, so…’
