Angelique Kerber cripples Johanna Larsson in round one – Mutua Madrid Open 2012
Seeded 12th in the tournament, Angelique Kerber of Germany, slew the Swedish qualifier, Johanna Larsson, with a breadstick at the Mutua Madrid Open 2012 on Sunday. She nudged up a 6-1, 6-4 victory against the Boden native to cruise into the second round at this blue clay court event taking place in Madrid, Spain.
The German number two showed top class performance to oust Larsson in straight sets at Park Manzanares. The contestants previously fought each other at the Dallas WTA event last circuit and after pocketing this 62-minute marathon, Kerber improved to a 2-0 all-time in the head-to-head series against the Swede.
Kerber thundered into this WTA Premier Mandatory event and drew the first blood in the second game to take a 3-0 lead. After Larsson held her serve in the fourth game, the German re-kindled her spark and stroke out the last three games in a row. She was never threatened with any barrier in this set and capitalised on two out of eight break chances to inch towards the fame.
14th ranked Kerber carried her momentum into the second round and earned the coveted break in the third game to leap to a 3-1 lead. She capitalised on another break chance in the seventh game and extended her lead to 5-2. Apart from losing her serve in the eighth game, Kerber plucked her serve once again and bagged the set with a 6-4 win.
Overall, the 24-year-old clobbered a better first serve share of 69 per cent as compared to their rival’s 61 per cent and brilliantly marked 23 out of 33 points on it. Kerber will square-off against the former world number one, Venus Williams of USA.
"I have nothing to lose against Venus tomorrow," the blooming German said of her next match-up. "I will just try my best and we'll see what happens."
The wild card entrant, Williams, fired nine aces and cashed in five out of 15 break chances to formulate a 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(6) score line. She spilled more double faults and produced a lower first serve share. However, the American amazingly clicked 36 out of 50 points on it to rule the match.
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