Angelique Kerber rallies past Christina McHale to reach the quarters – BNP Paribas Open 2012
German tennis ace, Angelique Kerber, required three sets to outsmart the 32nd seed, Christina McHale, at the BNP Paribas Open 2012 on Tuesday. She joggled up a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4) victory against the 19-year-old to advance into the last eight at
this WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier Mandatory event taking place in California, United States.
The world number 19 lost her track in the second set but found her rhythm again in the last game of the third set, ultimately pocketing the match in their first meeting. She took down McHale, who is the first local seed since eight years, in two hours and
33 minutes and secured a place in the quarter-finals.
"Christina is a great player. It was very tough," the high spirited German commented in a post-match conference. "I was trying to play my game, focus and just keep fighting for every point. I'm very happy to be in the quarterfinals - I think I'll have a
little bit more confidence now after winning a match like this. Tomorrow I'll try to play my game and have fun as well."
Kerber made quick in-roads and after cashing in all three break opportunities, she bagged the opener with a 6-3 success. She lost her serve once but prevailed throughout the set.
The American, who upset third seeded Petra Kvitova in her previous round match, sought her rhythm in the second set. She plucked her entire serves and capitalised on two out of seven break chances to clinch the equaliser by winning six games to three.
In the final set, Kerber carried her drastic ways and went 4-1 down after losing her serve early on. She was also three match points down at 6-5 but made an epic comeback to drag the set to a tie-breaker. The German outshined her opponent in it and pulled
out the decider with a 7-6(4) win.
Kerber stated in a social networking site after the match, “I can't believe I'm still alive! 2nd time in a row 3 match points down and won the match! Always got to keep fighting until the end.”
She will next face the Chinese number one, Na Li, who slaughtered Klara Zakopalova with a bagel to set-up this clash.
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