Angelique Kerber keeps German hopes alive; reaches quarter-finals – Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2013
While six German contestants got defeated in the opening two rounds of Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, the world number six, Angelique Kerber, has kept the hopes of the local crowd alive. The third seeded home favourite won her second
round battle against the Russian teenager, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, on Thursday. She took merely 55 minutes to wrap up her victory in straight sets, 6-0, 6-4, and booked a spot in the quarter-final round of the clay court tournament being played at her home
soil, Stuttgart.
The number three seed German received a bye to have a direct access to the second round of the tournament and comprehensively overcame the opening hurdle. She was absolutely ballistic in the opening set and completely annihilated
Pavlyuchenkova with a bagel set. The 19-year-old Russian posed some resistance in the next set and managed to bag four games before she eventually succumbed to the might of the left-handed German. Kerber had suffered two defeats at the hands of Pavlyuchenkova
in the prior battles and there was great upon the 25-year-old to break the Russian’s winning streak against her. She was delighted to register her first victory against the Russian teenager and improved 1-2 in the all-time head-to-head series.
"After losing to her twice before, I was set on beating her here at my home tournament," Kerber said. "I felt good and it was fun being out there on this court. I made sure I didn't let her get into the match, which was important,
as she is a very dangerous player - that was obvious in the second set. It's so nice being here. The crowd is fantastic and the tournament organisation is perfect, and that's why the players have been voting this tournament as our favourite tournament for
years now. This is also the only tournament my whole family can come to - that makes me doubly motivated here."
Kerber will next face the unseeded Kazakh contender, Yaroslava Shvedova, for a place in the semi-final round of Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Shvedova had a stiff battle against the Spaniard, Carla Suarez Navarro in the second round
but came out victorious at 7-5, 6-4.
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