TENNIS – German Angelique Kerber battled past Caroline Wozniacki with 3-6 6-1 7-5 in a nail-biting final of the Stuttgart Porsche Tennis Grand Prix at the Porshe Arena. With her win in the home tournament Kerber has extended her winning streak on clay this season to eleven consecutive wins, including a title on the green clay in Charleston. Diego Sampaolo
Kerber has completed a magic week in which she upset three-time defending champion Maria Sharapova in the second round. Wozniacki also enjoyed a great week in which she beat World Number 2 Simona Halep after a three-hour battle.
The first set went on serve until the third game when the home player faced the first two break point chances.Wozniacki broke serve at the second opportunity en route to clinching the first set with 6-3 in 32 minutes.
Kerber fought back with an early break in the second set and took a 6-1 win thanks to a double break forcing the match to the third set.
In a hard-fought third set Wozniacki got the break in the fourth game. The Danish player opened up a 3-1 lead but Kerber broke back. In the eighth game Kerber committed a series of unforced errors and faced three consecutive break point chances.
Wozniacki converted on her second break point chance to take a 5-3 lead but Kerber broke straight back for 4-5 to keep her hopes alive.
The German recovered from 3-5 by reeling off four games in a row. At 5-5 Wozniacki dropped her serve after sending a down-the-line forehand wide.
The Danish player fended off three match points at 6-5 but Kerber closed out on her fourth match point with 7-5 after two hours and four hours.
Kerber won her second consecutive title on clay two weeks after Charleston. With her title in the German city Kerber won a white Porsche Carrera
Kerber equalled her best ever win so far achieved at the Paris Indoor Tournament in 2012 and in Charleston earlier this year.
“I am happy with this title. I fought until the end. In the end I needed all my reserves. I am realy proud to have managed it in front of my home crowd”, said Kerber
During the week she beat three top-ten (Ekaterina Makarova, Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki). It’s the second time that Kerber has been able to beat two top-5 players in the same week after beating Serena Williams and Petra Kvitova in Cincinnati back in 2012.
Kerber has extended her winning streak to 6-4 over Wozniacki. She won their second head-to-head match on clay three year after beating the Danish player in Stuttgart in 2012 with 6-1 6-2.
“It was small things today that made the difference. I had 5-3 in the third set and 30-all, and it could have gone both ways but she took her chances and it went her way. We are good friends, we hang out a lot and practice a lot together and it’s always nice to play against a friend in a finalYou want to win but you don’t, it’s always nice that your friend does ”, said Wozniacki