Angelique Kerber battles past Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round – Mutua Madrid Open 2013
German number one, Angelique Kerber, had to go through some rough roads before overcoming the Russian veteran, Svetlana Kuznetsova, in the third round brawl of Mutua Madrid Open. The world number six fought for two hours and 17
minutes before claiming the three-setter at 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, to reach the quarter-finals of the WTA Premier Mandatory event in Madrid, Spain.
Both players have registered one victory against each other in the past and the Wednesday’s encounter was anticipated to be a nail-biter. Kerber had a slight edge over Kuznetsova, as she had defeated her at the start of this season
in Sydney, Australia. However, she was off to a sloppy start in the contest and was soon witnessed struggling in the first set. She lost the opener but claimed the next set to force her way back in the contest. The unseeded Russian posed some serious resistance
in the decisive set but Kerber managed to strike in the dire moments of the match and pulled out a stunning victory in the end.
"In the first set I was not there - I was somewhere else, but not on the court," Kerber said. "It was very tough out there today. Svetlana was playing very well - I tried to fight back into the match and by the end I was just thinking
point by point, just hoping and trying to play the balls in as much as I can. At the end I think it was just two or three points I played more aggressive that made the difference. It could have gone either way at the end. I'm happy I won today, but for my
next match I have to be focused from the first point. I'm looking forward to it, though."
Kerber will take on the former world number one, Ana Ivanovic, in the quarter-final round of Mutua Madrid Open later this week. Ivanovic hasn’t been in her top notch this year but she has made it to the round of four convincingly.
The Serbian has a fiery battle against the British tennis prodigy, Laura Robson, in the third round but eventually came out as the winner at 5-7, 6-2, 7-6(5).
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