By Chris Oddo | Thursday August 18, 2016

 

Angelique Kerber kept alive her hopes of wrestling the No. 1 ranking from Serena Williams on Thursday by reaching the quarterfinals at the Western and Southern Open.

Photo Source: Getty Images

Everybody wants to talk about what it would mean if Angelique Kerber wrestles the WTA’s No. 1 ranking from Serena Williams by week’s end. Everybody but  Kerber, that is.

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The German is quite content to keep the blinders on and she did just that on Thursday as she edged world No. 20 Barbora Strycova, 7-6(5), 6-4, to set a quarterfinal clash with ninth-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain.
That said, people want to know, what would it mean if Kerber could end Williams’ 183-week reign at the top of women’s tennis?

“I'm really not thinking about this,” the 28-year-old reiterated on ESPN’s set in Cincinnati when she was interviewed after the match. “On the court I'm really trying to focus and play my best tennis. And my goal is always to go on court and win the match... Of course I mean it's a goal to be one day the No. 1, but let's see if it happens, when it happens, whatever. I will not be putting this pressure on myself--I'm just trying to play step by step.”

Kerber had her hands full with the cagey Strycova on Thursday but managed to edge her in two tight sets to improve to 5-1 against her lifetime. It was a very close affair that could have gone either way, but as it has so often this year, the belief of Kerber seemed to propel the German in the biggest moments.

On set point with a 6-5 lead in the first-set tiebreaker, Kerber cracked a jaw-dropping crosscourt backhand winner to take the lead. Big points, big shots—big results. That’s the story of the German’s 2016 thus far.

The second set also hung in the balance until the later stages, but again it was Kerber who broke free, breaking Strycova in her last two service games and serving the match out to close at the two-hour mark.
< /br> “Mentally I am more quiet,” Kerber said. “I think I can put the emotion right now in the right place, and I think it helps me a lot to play really good in the important moments.”

Suarez Navarro moved through before Kerber did on Thursday, easing past 6th-seeded Roberta Vinci, 6-1, 7-5.

Kerber owns the 4-3 lifetime edge, and she’s 2-1 against the Spaniard this season, but did lose to Suarez Navarro in their last meeting (Birmingham, quarterfinal).

Halep Rock-Solid in Gavrilova Thrashing

If there is anybody who might have a good shot of taking down Angelique Kerber, it would be Kerber’s potential semifinal opponent, Romania’s Simona Halep. The world No. 4 won her 12th consecutive match on Thursday, 6-1, 6-2 over Daria Gavrilova of Australia. The 24-year-old was a runner-up at Cincinnati last year and she appears to be really comfortable in the sweltering heat and fast conditions of the Lindner Family Tennis Center.

She also defeated Kerber the last time they met, in the Montreal semis.

Halep will face either Johanna Konta or Agnieszka Radwanska in the quarterfinals on Friday.

In other action in Cincinnati, 7th-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova moved past Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2. The Russian improves to 15-4 in deciding sets this season.