Angelique Kerber beats Anne Keothavong to claim a quarter-final berth – e-Boks Open 2012
World number 15, Angelique Kerber of Germany, was tested to her limits by the 73rd British veteran, Anne Keothavong, in the second round clash of the e-Boks Open on Thursday. The second seeded German went through three
taxing sets before she eventually wrapped up victory at 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, to book a spot in the quarter-finals of the event in Copenhagen, Denmark.
28-year-old Keothavong hung in the contest for one hour and 54 minutes before the German took the better of her. She was off to a flying start, bagging the opening set to get the upper hand in the contest and pushed Kerber on her
back foot. The Briton went through a terrible slump in the very next set and provided an opening for the second seed to make her way back in business. Kerber fully capitalized on the error-ridden game play of her opponent and reeled off the following two sets
with commanding ease to close out the matchup in her favour.
15th ranked Kerber was on a 2-match winning streak against Keothavong prior to the Thursday’s matchup and she carried on the winning impetus to improve 5-1 in the head-to-head series. The German tennis ace keeps enjoying
her sublime form of the current season, registering her 20th victory to reach the final-eight of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) International Tour tournament. She has already won the Open GDF Suez championship title this year and is one of
the strongest contenders for the e-Boks Open trophy.
The second seed delivered 60 per cent of her first serve on target, bagging 34 out of 54 points on it and nailing five out of 10 break points en route to victory. Kerber suffered just three break points from her opponent but her
ballistic game play in the last two sets completely devastated the British veteran. Her forehand worked perfectly for her and she kept belting assertive winners to conclude the matchup in her favour.
Kerber will feature the all-German quarter-final against her fellow compatriot, Mona Barthel, on Friday. The sixth seed Barthel defeated the Italian veteran, Alberta Brianti, in the second round of the tournament.
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