By Chris Oddo | Saturday September 5, 2015
Did Victoria Azarenka and Angelique Kerber play the match of the US Open on the women's side? Twitter says yes.
Photo Source: Chris Trotman/Getty
Despite Victoria Azarenka’s career 4-0 record vs. Angelique Kerber there were high hopes that Saturday’s tilt between the two feisty shotmakers would be a popcorn battle. It did not disappoint.
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Azarenka held off Kerber to reach the round of 16 at Flushing Meadows, but her victory was far from routine. In a contest that was characterized by high-quality shotmaking, fiery intensity and breathtaking rallies, Azarenka had to rally from 5-2 down in the first set to open up a lead. After she dropped the middle set, 6-2, Azarenka had to withstand a furious rally from Kerber that saw the German stave off five match points in the ninth game of the decider before finally closing off Kerber with a love hold in the next game.
All the while, Twitter was gushing with praise for this enticing battle that has instantaneously taken best women’s match of the 2015 US Open honors.
Azarenka, playing with her lowest-ever US Open seed (20), keeps showing signs that she may be ready to return to the elite form that has seen her win two majors and hold the No. 1 ranking. In the last two majors she was stopped by Serena Williams (round of 16 at Roland Garros and quarterfinals at Wimbledon), but had it not been for those difficult draws, the Belarussian might already have made a deep run at a Slam.
On Saturday she made 51 forays to the net and said it was something she had to do to win points against the world-class defense and counterpunching of Kerber.
“That’s something that I really had to push and go for because she’s so solid from the baseline,” said Azarenka. “She will run down all the balls and for me to make the difference I really had to find a way to be more aggressive and take a little bit of time and break the rhythm.”
Despite all her brilliance throughout the two hour and 52-minute affair, Azarenka’s most impressive accomplishment of the day had to be when she served the match out to love moments after Kerber had rallied to save five match points in the previous game. With the crowd going wild and Kerber energized by her own heroics, Azarenka calmly took the balls and iced the match. It was a testament to her maturity and composure and it bodes well for her as she heads into a Labor Day clash with Varvara Lepchenko.
Here’s a bit of the Twitter reaction from the match:
In other action on Day 6 in New York, fifth-seeded Petra Kvitova was in dominant form for the third straight match. The Czech downed rising star Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, 6-2, 6-1, and has now lost only 12 games in her first three matches.
Speaking of red hot, Kvitova will face Johanna Konta in the round of 16. Konta won her 16th consecutive match and became the second WTA qualifier to reach the fourth round with a straight-sets takedown of 18th-seeded Andrea Petkovic.
Former U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur needed three sets but was still able to get by Sara Errani, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1, while 26th-seeded Flavia Pennetta reached the second week in New York for a third straight year with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Czech Petra Cetkovska.
Pennetta, a quarterfinalist last year and a semifinalist in 2013, will face Stosur in the round of 16.
In the night session, second-seeded Simona Halep knocked off qualifier Shelby Rogers, 6-2, 6-3, to reach the round of 16 for the second time in her career. The Romanian will face either Sabine Lisicki or Barbora Strycova on Monday.
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