Kerber scores much-needed win

Published by Reuters

Angelique Kerber celebrates a point en route to victory over Barbora Strycova at the Miami Open, her first WTA win since the Australian Open; Getty Images

Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber bounced back after two early tournament exits when she won her second-round match at the Miami Open on Friday.

Business as usual was resumed as second seed Kerber dusted off Barbora Strycova 6-1 6-1 in barely an hour.

Kerber has struggled since beating world No.1 Serena Williams in the Melbourne final to claim her maiden Grand Slam title in January.

She was part of the German Fed Cup team that lost to Switzerland, and in individual competition fell at the first hurdle in Doha last month and again last week in Indian Wells, an exit that gave her plenty of time to prepare for Miami.

“I worked very hard before Miami, because I had a lot of time after Indian Wells and I think the hard work pays off again,” Kerber said.

“At the end of such a great success it’s always good to celebrate a little bit and of course no one can ever take it away from me.

“But now it’s time to get on court and work hard again and do the same things that made me strong before Australia, getting ready for my next matches and tournaments.”

In other afternoon matches on Friday, fourth seed Garbine Muguruza of Spain was extended before outlasting Slovakian Dominica Cibulkova 6-7(3) 6-3 7-5 in a marathon match that lasted nearly three hours.

Two seeds conceded defeat due to injury, with seventh seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and 18th-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic both retiring from their matches.

Sixth-seeded Spaniard Carla Suarez-Navarro also bowed out, losing 6-4 6-2 to American Coco Vandeweghe, as did 14th seed Sara Errani of Italy, who fell 6-1 6-3 to Japanese wildcard Naomi Osaka.

American No.10 seed Venus Williams also tumbled out of the tournament, losing to Russian qualifier Elena Vesnina 6-0 6-7(5) 6-2.

Share this: 
  • Most popular articles

15 September 2016

The 10 most influential players in the history of tennis

The greatest champions, goes the old adage, are those who leave their sport better than th... More

16 February 2017

Men’s and women’s tennis: as different as believ...

In the first part of our series analysing the similarities and differences between men's ... More

14 August 2017

Sharapova quotes Serena: “I will never lose to that li...

Maria Sharapova has opened up in her memoir Unstoppable, revealing her take on how Serena ... More

7 November 2016

20 Questions: Andy Murray

Double Wimbledon champion, double Olympic champion and now world No.1. But what doesn't An... More