Angelique Kerber’s singles career isn’t over yet as the German battled past Jaqueline Cristian 6-4 3-6 6-4 to reach the third round at the Olympics.
The 2016 silver medallist is on track to complete her career in the best possible fashion as she progressed in three sets against the Romanian.
Kerber started the match strongly by creating three break points in the opening game before breaking for a 3-2 lead.
A reassured Kerber fended off any pressure from Cristian as she converted her second set point to claim the opening set.
There was an emphatic comeback from Cristian in the second set as she created three break points in the second game before breaking to love for a 3-1 lead.
The world number 57 comfortably secured the second set before breaking in the opening game of the deciding set.
However there were more twists and turns as a clinical Kerber secured three games in a row to take a 3-1 lead before being broken again in the fifth game.
Both players continued to be dominant on serve before Kerber applied heavy amounts of pressure in the tenth game.
Although Cristian saved the first two match points, the Romanian was unable to save the third as the three-time Grand Slam champion’s singles career moves into the third round.
Angie Kerber getting absolutely insane crowd support in the last tournament of her career ❤️ pic.twitter.com/cXTEvGxb4v
— Martin (@PojdBase) July 29, 2024
Next for Kerber will be 16th seed Leylah Fernandez who defeated Cristina Bucsa in straight sets.
Swiatek and Gauff cruise through
In other results world number one Iga Swiatek dominated Diane Parry 6-1 6-1 and will now play Xiyu Wang in the third round.
World number two Coco Gauff won by the same scoreline against Maria Carle to reach the last 16.
Gauff now has an intriguing contest against Wimbledon semi-finalist Donna Vekic after the Croatian defeated Bianca Andreescu 6-3 6-4.
There were also comfortable wins for Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova and Maria Sakkari over Xinyu Wang and Yue Yuan respectively as the action heats up in Paris.
