By Giovanni Vianello
Once again, Angelique Kerber is left pondering what could have been after she crashed out to Ekaterina Makarova 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(11), during a roller coaster encounter at the Western and Southern Open.
Leading into the match, the head-to-head between the two was 7-5 in favour of the German. Despite 36 places separating the two players in the WTA rankings, it was hard to establish a clear favourite. World No.3 Kerber has lacked self-confidence throughout this season (in comparison to 2016, at least) and lost to Makarova at this year’s French Open. The closeness between the two was illustrated in their latest clash, where Kerber failed to convert a match point opportunity during the final moments of the match.
“I think it was up-and-down match,” Kerber said following her loss. “I was finding my rhythm actually in the second set. But I had the chance as well in the first set. She played well then.
“The third set was, yeah, a completely up-and-down set. She had chances; I had chances. In the end it was just one point which decide the match.”
Former top 10 player Makarova started the stronger by clinching the opening set in 42 minutes. Kerber struggled to show a consistent performance and appeared absent-minded, hitting plenty of short and not powerful shots. The German went down a break in the third game, then is broken again in the seventh game. Rewarding the Russian two chances of serving for the set. Kerber managed to recover a break before holding serve to shorten the gap. Still Makarova had the edge. Serving for the set for the second time, she saved a break point on route to sealing the lead.
With the Russian in the driving seat, the second set saw a Kerber fight back with glimpses of the form which took her to two grand slam titles in 2016. In contrast with the first, the second saw a complete domination by the former world No.1, who levelled the set with ease. Kerber appeared to be in a much brighter shape in the second set, especially from the psychological point of view, and it seemed that last year’s dominator has been brought back to life.
With all to play for in the decider, both players illustrated their best tennis when it mattered the most. Kerber gained an advantage of 2-0, before Makarova won 5 straight games with Kerber getting broken twice in a row. At this point, Kerber holds serve and then, after a ten-minute game and after having saved two match-points, gets the break back. With the score at 5-4, the Russian received medications in an MTO. Kerber then levels the score at 5-5 before the match ends with a dramatic tie-break. The Russian clinched it 13-11 with her eighth match-point of the whole match, the sixth in the breaker.
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“Today (Wednesday) was unbelievable match and great fighting from both of us,” Makarova said after her match. “Every time when we play, normally it’s like three sets, a lot of times three sets. So I knew that it would be very tough match. She’s a great player, a champion.
“With these conditions, it’s also very tough, because we played until the end in Toronto and there was quite comfortable weather and here is so humid and hot, and we just two days here. But I’m so happy that I got through this tough one.”
Makarova will next play Sloane Stephens, who knocked out 14th seed Petra Kvitova 6-2, 6-3.
