By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, October 26, 2015
Angelique Kerber won 23 of 27 points played on Petra Kvitova's second serve in a 6-2, 7-6 (3) conquest at the WTA Finals.
Photo credit: AFP
Turning her back to the court, Petra Kvitova looked like a lost woman suffering recall issues.
The two-time Wimbledon champion lost the range on her serve and lost track of the score as Singapore fans tried to rouse her into action. A displaced Kvitova had already dropped the first set—she just didn't realize it as she stood behind the baseline mistakenly believing the set was ongoing before retreating to her court-side seat and burying her face in her towel.
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Kvitova snapped out of her brain-cramp in the second set, but never solved the headaches caused by an accurate Angelique Kerber.
In an all-lefty match, Kerber won 23 of 27 points played on the Czech's second serve scoring a 6-2, 7-6 (3) victory in the opening White Group match for both women. Kerber raised her record against lefties to 4-0 in 2015.
"I'm so happy to win against Petra, she's an unbelievable player," Kerber said. "I was trying to move well in the second set. I was just trying to go for it. I am happy to have won it in two sets."
A dazed Kvitova looked listless, showed cloudy shot selection and never solved Kerber's pedestrian second serve.
The sixth-seeded German saved seven of 10 break points and played a much cleaner match throughout. Kvitova committed four times as many errors (44 to 11) as Kerber, who carved up her error-prone opponent when she wasn't coaxing mistakes.
The fourth-seeded Kvitova possesses one of the biggest serves of any woman in the field. Kerber out-served her through the start. The sturdy Germany served 82 percent and won 16 of 19 points on serve breezing to a one-set lead after a mere 27 minutes of play.
Kvitova didn't keep score in the first set; she couldn't settle the score in the second set.
Leaning low, Keber buried a backhand pass crosscourt for break point in the ninth game. Kvitova erased it with the slider serve wide. Two points later, Kerber slide a pass down the line that eluded a lunging Kvitova. That shot sealed Kerber's fifth break of the match and a 5-4 lead.
Stepping up to serve out the match, Kerber could not close. Kvitova cracked a forehand winner down the line for break point before blocking a forehand forehand volley winner for 5-5.
That sequence briefly roused the flat-hitting Czech.
Two games later, Kvitova collected double set point. Kerber erased the first with an ace and the second with a backhand drive down the line. Kerber did not yield coaxing a pair of errors to force the tie break.
When she's on her game, Kvitova is one of the purest ball strikers in the game. When she's off, Kvitova's footwork suffers, she reaches for the ball with her arms rather than setting up with her legs and she's capable of slapping shots into net. Successive errors followed by Kvitova's seventh double fault gave Kerber four match points. She closed with a bang ending a confident one hour, 45-minute match and defeating Kvitova for the first time in three years.
Kerber entered the tournament with a 1-5 record in two prior WTA Finals appearances, but she's already matched that total with today's triumph.