Angelique Kerber blows away Julia Goerges in the third round clash – Internazionali BNL d’Italia 2012
In the all-German affair of the third round, world number 11, Angelique Kerber, stood tall against her 29th ranked compatriot, Julia Goerges, to reach the quarter-final round of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia on Thursday.
24-year-old Kerber carried on her onslaught of the running season to wrap up victory in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, taking barely 70 minutes of play.
Kerber has already bagged two WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) championship titles this professional circuit so far and is aiming for gold at the outdoor clay court event in Rome, Italy. She was the hot favourite for winning the
clash against Goerges but the 29th ranked German was anticipated to post a much solid resistance than she actually did in the contest. Goerges could win just five games in the entire matchup before submitting to her superior-ranked compatriot in
the second set. Her dismal run in the clay court swing of the year continues to distort her position in the WTA World Rankings, with the second grand Slam event of the year about to begin by the end of May.
Goerges hunted down Kerber in their first ever matchup in 2010 Luxembourg but the 11th ranked German took her revenge earlier this year by dumping her rival in the WTA hard-court event in Auckland, New Zealand. She carried
on with her sublime form to register her second consecutive victory over Goerges to lead 2-1 in the head-to-head series.
Kerber delivered 67 per cent of her first serve on target, winning 21 out of 31 points on it and broke her opponent six out of nine times en route to victory. Goerges could barley replied with two out of four break points in the
entire matchup to finish on the losing side in the end.
"It was a very tough match mentally, because I know Julia very well," Kerber said after claiming the quarter-final berth. "We are friends so it was not easy for me, also not for her. My goal was to focus on myself. It's nice to
be in the quarters for the first time here in Rome."
The 12th seed German will face off against the world number four, Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic, in the quarter-final brawl on Friday afternoon.
"I'm not thinking about being in the Top 10 at the moment. I will just go out there and try my best," Kerber said. "Petra is another lefty. We played in Stuttgart a couple of weeks ago and she was too tough. We'll see what happens
this time."
Kvitova was successful against Sorana Cirstea of Romania in the third round to reach the quarter-finals.
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