Angelique Kerber disposes of Ekaterina Makarova to reach the final-four – AEGON International 2012
World number eight, Angelique Kerber, carried on with her stampede at the AEGON International and ousted the 48th ranked Russian tennis ace, Ekaterina Makarova, in the quarter-final round on Thursday. The German number
one took just 59 minutes to wrap up her thumping victory in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, to earn a spot in the semi-final draw of the Wimbledon warm-up event in Eastbourne, United Kingdom.
Makarova was riding a two-match winning streak against the German prior to the Thursday’s contest and it was anticipated that she would sustain her clean sheet against Kerber but it was not her day at all. She was thrashed by the
fifth seeded Kerber throughout the one-hour matchup and had no option to submit in the second set. The German now has a 1-2 record against Makarova in singles encounters.
Kerber had a phenomenal serve game in the contest, delivering 71 per cent of her first serve on target and winning 27 out of 39 points on it. She crafted five break opportunities and nailed four of them to root out the unseeded
Russian out of the competition in style. On the other hand, Makarova could barely register one break point in the entire matchup and frittered away two vital chances to finish on the losing side in the end.
"It wasn't easy today, because Ekaterina is a great player," Kerber said in her post match reviews. "She has beaten great players before and she did it here this week too, against Petra. I just tried to focus on me and my game
plan and I fought until the end. It means a lot to be in another semi-final this year. This is my first time here and I've been enjoying my stay. This is the best preparation for Wimbledon."
With the Top-three seeded contenders, Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvitova and Caroline Wozniacki, ousted from the tournament draw in the very first round, it seems a perfect opportunity for Kerber to bag the grass court title, with
the Wimbledon Championship right on the corner. She will face the unseeded Czech starlet, Klara Zakopalova, in the semi-final round of the AEGON International on Friday. Zakopalova registered a big upset in the second round when she ousted her ninth seeded
fellow compatriot, Petra Cetkovska and then hunted down the Russian tennis sensation, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, in the quarter-final nettle to book a date with Kerber in the round of four.
Tags: