Angelique Kerber will face Simona Halep in the quarter-finals of French Open 2018 after producing a confident display to take down an out-of-sorts Caroline Garcia 6-2 6-3.
The German won two Grand Slams during an exceptional 2016, and then endured a disappointing 2017. However, she now looks to be back somewhere near her best and it showed against the Frenchwoman.
Kerber broke Garcia twice in the opening six games to race into a 5-1 lead. The World No.7 then offered a little bit of resistance as she saved two set points.
However, the former World No.1 soon sealed the set. She then started the second set in exactly the same way as she had the first – with a break – before going on to win it 6-3.
Kerber did not have to work hard to win most of the points. Although she hit 11 winners, most of the time she simply got the ball back into play repeatedly and waited for Garcia to make one of her 36 unforced errors in the match.
Garcia disappoints home crowd
It was a very poor performance from the Frenchwoman in her second consecutive appearance in the last 16 of her home Grand Slam. In addition to the errors, she only won 49% of points on her serve.
This lacklustre tennis ensured that Garcia went 6-2 5-1 down in the match. Then, when it was already too late, she came to life.
She started the game with two stunning winners, one on each wing. Then she battled hard after losing four points in a row to save four match points and eventually hold.
Suddenly the match looked like a contest, and Garcia cemented that impression by breaking Kerber when she served for the match. However, any hopes of a miracle comeback evaporated when the Frenchwoman dropped serve again to hand victory to the German.
