Angelique Kerber is in top form just before the start of the French Open. The German number one won the WTA tournament in Strasbourg on Saturday and thus celebrated a perfect dress rehearsal for the clay court classic that begins this Sunday in Paris.
In the final of the event, which was endowed with 203,024 euros, Kerber prevailed in a real thriller against the Slovenian Kaja Juvan with 7: 6 (7: 5), 6: 7 (0: 7), 7: 6 (7: 5).
For Kerber (34), it was the first tournament victory since winning the lawn event in Bad Homburg in June last year. The three-time Grand Slam tournament winner last triumphed on sand six years ago in Stuttgart. The player from Kiel used her second match point against Juvan after 3:14 hours. Overall it was the 14th title in her career.
“Was a great week for me”
“It was a great week for me,” said Kerber after her triumph. “I improved from game to game and in the end today I just had that little bit of luck.” After more than three hours, Kerber made the victory perfect with a spectacular passing ball. She received 26,770 euros for her victory.
After a series of losses, Kerber accepted a wildcard for the tournament in order to gain match practice with a view to the French Open. This plan worked perfectly. In Paris, Kerber meets the Pole Magdalena Frech in the first round.
great fight
Kerber and Juvan, who is 13 years younger, fought a great fight for three sets. In the first two sets, Kerber conceded a quick break early on, but fought back both times, so that the decision had to be made in the tie-break. In the first set, Kerber had the better end for himself, in the second section Juvan equalized the set with a 7-0 in the tie-break.
In the third round, Kerber initially took the serve from the Slovenian, but immediately received a re-break. The decision had to be made again in the tie-break. In the end, Kerber won the title with great willpower.
Source: dpa