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Anett Kontaveit battles past Angelique Kerber in Stuttgart

Anett Kontaveit battled to victory over Angelique Kerber in Stuttgart.

Published

2 years ago

20/04/2022

Elias Laradi

(@jeu_set_etmatch - Twitter)

The Estonian is into the round of 16 after beating the local German favorite in three tight sets.

Anett Kontaveit is into the round of 16 at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix after beating the world number 17 and German Angelique Kerber in three sets 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and two minutes.

The Estonian hit 37 winners in the match while the German hit 30 unforced errors.

“She played really well and she was aggressive and it was my first match on clay so that’s tricky and I feel I found my game in the second set and felt more comfortable with the serves and got my match going.”

It was indeed the German who got off to a fast start breaking the number five seed to love and managed to turn that break into a double break before the world number 17 got one of those breaks back.

Kerber was able to get one more break of serve at 5-3 to take the first set after a poor service game from the Talinn, Estonia native.

Kontaveit had three cracks in the first game of the second set to break and it was third time lucky as she was able to get the early break and flip the script on the German.

The Estonian had a chance to go up a double break but Bremen native saved all four breakpoints she faced and was able to hold serve. At 3-2 Kerber once again had a chance to break back to go back on serve but was denied by the world number six again.

The number five seed was able to serve out the second set and the match went into a third and deciding set.

The Talinn native continued to push in the beginning of the the third set but the German was able to save all three breakpoints she faced in the opening game and held serve once again.

The number five seed got the first break at 1-1 on her second time of asking and turned that into a double break to take a 4-1 lead but was broken the following game and Kerber got a break of serve back.

At 5-4 Kontaveit served out the match to set up a round of 16 matchup with Ekaterina Alexandrova who she will face on Thursday.

After the match in her post match interview she was asked if she had any issues playing on clay.

“I grew up playing on clay in Estonia so I do like playing on clay but we mostly play on hard courts most of the year so it takes some time to get used to it.”

Day 3 results

Another busy day at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart on Wednesday with the last first round matches being completed and one second round match.

The new world number one Iga Swiatek had no issues getting past the German qualifier Eva Lys 6-1, 6-1 in 62 minutes, the Britt Emma Raducanu also had no trouble beating the Aussie Storm Sanders 6-1, 6-2.

We had the battle of the Czechs as Karolina Pliskova came back from a set down to beat Petra Kvitova 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 in two hours and six minutes.

Day 4 preview

Thursday order of play features some mouth watering matches as players will be battling it out for a spot in the quaterfinals.

The number two seed Paula Badosa will play her first match of the week as she faces the Kazak Elena Rybakina, the Canadian Bianca Andreescu faces another tough test in Aryna Sabalenka.

Emma Raducanu will face the German lucky loser Tamara Korpatsch while the Tunisian Ons Jabeur will face Daria Kasatkina and Pliskova will face Liudmilla Samsonova.

Related Topics:anett kontaveit Angelique Kerber WTA Stuttgart

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Luca Van Assche rallies from two sets to one down to beat Alex Michelsen

Published

11 hours ago

30/11/2023

sampaolo

Luca Van Assche came back from two sets to one down to defeat Alex Michelsen 4-3 (7-0) 3-4 (4-7) 3-4 (4-7) 4-1 4-3 (8-6) in 2 hours and 36 minutes at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah in the second longest match in the history of this tournament.

Van Assche and Michelsen went on serve in the first three sets. Both players saved all five break points they faced in the first three sets.

There were three consecutive breaks in the fourth set. Van Assche earned two of them and served out the set at love in the fifth game.

Both players traded breaks in the fifth and sixth games of the fifth set. Van Assche earned a chance to serve for the match, but Michelsen pulled back on serve to force a tie-break.

Van Assche built a 3-0 in the tie-break with an early mini-break. Michelsen saved two match points to draw level to 6-6. Van Assche sealed the win with another mini-break on the second match point.

“He was playing very well the whole match. It was really close. Not a lot of breaks and it was difficult for me but I am very happy”, said Van Assche.

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Arthur Fils beats Dominic Stricker to end Green Group unbeaten

Published

14 hours ago

30/11/2023

sampaolo

Arthur Fils battled past Dominic Stricker 4-2 3-4 (3-7) 4-2 4-3 (7-5) after 1 hour and 47 minutes in the final round-robin match to end the Green Group unbeaten with a 3-0 record at the Next Gen ATP Finals.

Stricker knew that he would advance to the semifinals if he won just one set. The Swiss player won the set he needed against the already qualified Fils to secure his spot in the semifinal despite the defeat.

Stricker saved a break point on the deciding point in the third game of the fourth set. Fils earned the break in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead and served out on his second set point.

Stricker held serve at love in the first game of the fourth set. The Swiss player broke serve on the deciding point to open up a 2-0 lead. Fils broke straight back in the third game and held serve at 15 to draw level to 2-2. Fils earned three mini-breaks, but Stricker pulled back on serve each time. Fils sealed the tie-break 7-5 on his second match point.

Stricker beat Fils 7-6 7-6 in Gstaad in their only previous head-to-head match last summer.

Fils saved two break points in the first game to hold serve. Stricker fended off a break point in the fourth game on the deciding point to draw level to 2-2. Fils earned his first break on his third set point with a forehand return winner in the sixth game to clinch the first set 4-2.

Stricker saved the only break point of the second set in the fourth game. Both players held on their serve en route to the tie-break. Stricker won six consecutive points from 0-1 down with two mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-3.

Fils won his first title in Lyon and reached the final in Antwerp

“I knew before the match that I qualified, but I just want to win every match that I am playing. I think I put a little bit more focus out there out there today than the first two days because I know this opponent and he already beat me this year. It was a tough match but I am really happy to win and let’s see who I get in the semifinal”, said Fils in the post- match interview.

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Luca Nardi beats Flavio Cobolli but it’s not enough to advance to the semifinals at the Next Gen Finals

Published

17 hours ago

30/11/2023

sampaolo

World number 115 Luca Nardi overcame Flavio Cobolli in an Italian match 3-4 (4-7) 4-2 4-3 (7-1) 1-4 4-3 (7-3) in 2 hours and 14 minutes in the final round robin match of Green Group at the Next Gen Finals at King Abdullah Sports Club in Jeddah.

The win was not enough to earn a semifinal spot for Nardi. Arthur Fils is the first player to qualify for the knock-out stage. The top seeded Frenchman will face Dominic Stricker later today. Stricker needs to win just one set to reach the semifinals.

Both players went on serve in the first set en route to the tie-break. Cobolli earned two mini-breaks to win the tie-break 7-4.

Nardi saved two break points in the third game of the second set to take a 2-1 lead. The world number 115 broke serve in the sixth game to close out the second set 4-2.

Cobolli converted his second break point in the first game of the third set. Nardi pulled back on serve in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Nardi opened up a 3-0 lead with two mini-breaks. Cobolli pulled one of the two mini-breaks back for 1-3. Nardi won the final four points with two mini-breaks to claim the tie-break 7-1.

Nardi clutched his groin when he was serving at 0-1 in the fourth set and called a medical time-out at 0-3. Cobolli earned a break in the second game to close out the fourth set 4-1.

Cobolli saved two break points to hold serve in the second game. Nardi fended off two break points in the fifth game. Both players held on serve en route to the tie-break. Nardi earned his first mini-break with a backhand flick from out wide to take a 2-1 lead. Cobolli pulled the mini-break back to draw level to 2-2. Nardi closed out the match with a return down the line winner.

Nardi hit 27 winners to 12 unforced errors.

“I am happy with the win. Even if I did not qualify, I think today was the best match I played out of the three. I am a bit sad I did not qualify, but I did not want to leave Jeddah without a win. I kept fighting today and I am happy”, said Nardi.