Sunday, October 13, 2013

Kerber wins Linz, Stosur wins Osaka

This weekend served as a kind of redemption experience for two of the tour's top, but troubled, players. Angelique Kerber won her first tournament of the season when she defeated Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 7-6 in the final of the Generali Ladies Linz event. The match, which featured 13 breaks of serve (and this on a very fast surface), got exciting toward the end when Kerber, serving for the title at 40-0, was broken, and then faced two set points from Ivanovic, which she saved. Ivanovic had two set points in the tiebreak, too, but failed to convert them.

The Pliskova sisters, Karolina and Kristyna, won the doubles title--and in doing so--won their first WTA tournament, both as members of other doubles teams and as a sister team. They defeated top seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Alicja Rosolska 7-6, 6-4.

Kerber became the eighth player to qualify for the WTA championships when she won her quarterfinal match in Linz. She had a wild card at the tournament and was seeded number 1.

In Osaka, 2009 champion Sam Stosur had to work hard to win a second title, but she defeated Eugenie Bouchard 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. Bouchard had trouble with her first serve throughout the match, but often got herself out of trouble with her second serve. This was the Canadian's first time to reach a tour final, and it won't be her last.

And here she is again! Kristina Mladenovic, this time playing with Flavia Pennetta (I'm really liking this combination), won the Osaka doubles championhship. Mladenovic and Pennetta beat Stosur and Zhang Shuai 6-4, 6-3. Mladenovic has now won seven doubles titles, and this is Pennetta's 15th doubles title.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I will never like Kerber. Yep. She is the most formidable 'wall' on the tour, but in 2011 she took cheating to a level that I've never seen. Wimbledon vs. Robson. She feigned injury, she extended time-outs and changeovers, complained to the umpire over nothing at all. She lost anyway. It was remarkable that Robson withstood the nonsense and it portended good things for Laura. Kerber is a piece of work.

Jim Lumpkin said...

Anonymous. I remember that match. I think that Schiavone did Kerber one better in her 2012 early-round match at Wimby against Kvitova. Some people have no shame. Jes' sayin'...

Diane said...

I remember thinking the same thing about Laura--she was a cool customer in the middle of all that drama. She just let Kerber implode.