Angelique Kerber inches ahead of Venus Williams in round three – London Olympics 2012
World number seven, Angelique Kerber, survived two tie-breakers to see off the former world number one, Venus Williams, in an enthralling third round clash of London Olympics at Wimbledon. The 24-year-old German played some marvellous
tennis to end the glory hunt of the 32-year-old American in straight sets 7-6(5), 7-6(5).
Williams was in terrific run of form and expected to give the toughest matches of the tournament to the German and she did. She lost earlier to the seventh seed German in straight sets during the Mutua Madrid Open but it was a
complete one-sided thrashing from the German. However, this time around it was much different and a slight turn of luck could have rolled the American veteran into the last eight of the tournament.
Williams’s serve was broken in the first game of the match and that hinted at something special from the German right from the word go. However, the following few games turned the odds to level terms with the American winning a
breakthrough back in the eighth game and keeping the set alive with a swap of breakthroughs towards the end.
In a tie-breaker the German starlet took an early mini-break and that proved to be disastrous for the American as she couldn’t recover back; lost the set as well as hopes of hype around the arena.
The second set was not much different from the opening. Both players fought rigorously and kept the points alive especially on their serves to keep the scores together. A breakthrough for the American hinted at a comeback but the
German replied back in the seventh game to level the scores.
No drama in the dying stages of the second set enforced another tie-breaker. With Williams failing to hold her opponent from winning yet another early mini-break, the match was ended in favour of Kerber who thoroughly deserved
to win it.
Kerber stated afterwards, “Venus was playing very well today, but I just tried to be tough and play my game. I'm very excited to be in the quarterfinals here."
Williams commented, “I was disappointed to lose the first set; I still tried hard in the second set but she had a lot of answers. She has had a great year this year and I have to give her credit for playing well today."
Next up for the German is the top seed Belarusian, Victoria Azarenka, who is one of the strongest contenders for the gold medal.
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