Kerber moves closer to return to summit
DUBAI: Angelique Kerber dominated Monica Puig 6-2, 6-3 in barely an hour at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Wednesday to move a step closer to returning to the No.1 ranking.
The top-seeded German who held the top WTA spot in 2016 before Serena Williams took it back in September, could regain the top ranking were she to win the Gulf event tomorrow.
Kerber’s victory also provided revenge against Puerto Rican Puig, who beat the 29-year-old for the Rio Olympic gold medal in August.
Kerber improved to 3-1 in the series with her comfortable win over the No.42 seed at the Aviation club.
“I was trying to play my game. I’m really happy about how I played today,” Kerber said. “I was really trying to stay focused on every single point and trying to move well, bringing a lot of balls back.
“I was just thinking about my game, about my rhythm, and not thinking too much about my opponent tonight.”
The German will next line up against Ana Konjuh, who eliminated eighth seed Elena Vesnina 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).
Seventh seed Elina Svitolina outlasted Christina McHale 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a match which went for almost two and a half hours.
“I was fighting myself today, I was not there for important points,” the Ukrainian winner admitted. “I didn’t do my best, but then I’m really happy that I won.
“This shows I can go through some tough matches even not playing well and then try to find my game, At the end of third set, I found it. It’s positive that I fought to the end and didn’t give up.”
Elsewhere in the third round, American Lauren Davis beat Ekaterina Makarova 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, China’s Wang Qiang defeated Kristina Mladenovic 6-1, 6-4 a day after the Frenchwoman had stunned second seed Karolina Pliskova while Anastasija Sevastova defeated Peng Shuai 6-4, 6-3.
American Catherine Bellis sprang a shock on 2012 champion Agnieszka Radwanska upsetting the Polish fourth seed 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 with the 17-year-old earning her first win over a top-10 player.
Danish 10th seed Caroline Wozniacki needed treatment on a leg at the start of the third set, but carried on to defeat Kateryna Bondarenko 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 after more than two hours of battle.
In Miami, Canadian top seed Milos Raonic advanced to the quarter-finals of the ATP Delray Beach Open on Wednesday by defeating Croatia’s Borna Coric 6-3, 7-6 (7/2).
On a night when rain delayed the start of play for more than eight hours, world No.4 Raonic fired 12 aces on his way to victory after 94 minutes in the early minutes of Thursday morning.
Raonic, who reached the tie-break with his 11th ace and reached match point with his last ace, booked a quarter-final match-up against British eighth seed Kyle Edmund, who outlasted Taiwan’s Lu Yenh-3, 3-6, 6-2.
Also advancing to the last eight was US third seed Jack Sock, who downed Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 6-1, and American fifth seed Steve Johnson, who eliminated Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka by the same score.
In Rio de Janeiro, the Rio Open has lost some of its top players in early matches as it competes for attention during Carnival week in Brazil.
Top-seeded Kei Nishikori was ousted in the first round of the claycourt tournament by local favourite Thomaz Bellucci.
Last year’s champion and third-seeded Pablo Cuevas was also beaten in the first round. So was Guido Pella, who lost to Cuevas in last year’s final.
Of the eight seeded players, five lost in the first round.
That opens the door for second seed Dominic Thiem to win his eighth ATP singles titles. Thiem defeated Dusan Lajovic of Serbia on Wednesday 6-2, 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals.
The tournament needs all the promotion it can get. It’s being held in Rio de Janeiro during Carnival week.