Venus downs Kerber to set up Konta clash
VENUS Williams rolled back the years to send world No1 Angelique Kerber crashing out of the Miami Open on Wednesday a nd advance to a semifinal showdown with Britain’s Johanna Konta.
Williams (pictured, AFP), at 36 the oldest woman in the f i e l d, downed Kerber i n straight sets, winning 7-5, 6-3, while Konta fought back to beat Romania’s Simon Halep 3-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-2.
Both results had the element of surprise about them with Kerber the top seed and Halep the third and in good form, but they set up what should be a fascinating contest.
The other semifinal pits Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki against Czech second seed Karolina Pliskova.
With the local crowd behind her, Williams, a three-time winner at Miami, clearly believed she could topple the German, but the first set saw both players ers struggle to hold their serve. e.
The American erican broke Kerber four times, s, while Williams failed to hold old serve twice, but the contest est was more onesided in thehe second set.
Williamss raced to a 4-1 lead before e Kerber broke back and started to produce some e great shots as she battledd in vain to save the match.
“It was an interesting match.tch. I was controlling g it. I had more errors rs than I like and lower first servee percentage thanhan I woul d l i k e,” Williams said.aid.
“I have to p l a y w e l l against the e No1 in thee w o r l d . She’s on top of her game and she played well, so I had to find a way to play a little better,” added the American. Kerber has yet to win a tournament this year and most recently went out in the round of 16 in Indian Wells. “This wasn’t the best start I would have wished for, but it’s not a drama because I’m still playing good and winning matches. I’m looking forward to playing again,” she said. “It wa s n’t my be s t game, but she deser ved to w i n becaubec au s see she p l a y e d r e a l l y we l l ton ig ht,” added t he German. Konta’s victory made her the first British woman to reach the last four at Miami. “I’m really happy that I’ve come through and I am just looking forward to my next round – it’s going to be a tough one,” Konta said.
Halep settled well in the opening set, with her powerful forehand dominant, but the Australia-born Konta fought back well in the second.
Konta broke early to establish a 3-0 lead but the gritty Romanian clawed her way back, winning the next three games while her opponent failed to make the most of her openings in what was an errorstrewn contest.
Nonethless, Konta stuck at her task and was able to break again when Halep was serving for the match and force a tiebreak which she eventually won 9-7 to take the pair into the third set.
There was a tense discussion between Halep and her Australian coach Darren Cahill.
Konta broke in the fifth game of the deciding set and visibly growing in confidence she broke again to take a 5-2 lead and serve out for the match.
Nadal on track for Federer
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal took a step closer to a possible final against long-time rival Roger Federer in Miami after a straight sets win over American Jack Sock on Wednesday.
Nadal’s 6-2, 6-3 win over the 13th-seeded Sock sets up a s e mi f i n a l mee t i n g wi t h unseeded Italian Fabio Fognini, who upset second ranked Kei Nishikori 6-4, 6-2 earlier in the day.
The Spaniard’s forehand was ominous as he neutralised Sock in one hour and 22 minutes.
Eighteen-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer was to ta ke on Czech 10t h seed Tomas Berdych yesterday, whi le t he la st qua r ter f i na l was to pit Germany’s Alexander Zverev against Australia’s Nick Kyrgios.