Maria Sharapova vs. Angelique Kerber: Quarter-Final Preview – China Open 2012
World number two, Maria Sharapova, will heads on to the quarter-final clash of the China Open against the likes of the sixth ranked German star, Angelique Kerber, on Friday. Both players have been consistent throughout the tour
and faced some tough competitors at Beijing.
Sharapova took out Simona Halep in the opening round before ousting Sorana Cirstea. On Thursday, the Russian bamboozled Polona Hercog to book her place in the last eight. On the other hand, the German received first round bye.
She had an easy draw against the Spanish player, Lara Arruabarrena-Vecino. However, the third round battle took a toll on Kerber. She was up against the likes of the former world number one, Caroline Wozniacki, who forced her to dig deep and win the match
in three sets.
Both players are in an epic run of form and enjoying their time out in Beijing. A quote from Sharapova clearly depicts her desire to better this season. She said, “Everything after the US Open this year is kind of a bonus for me,
because last year I sprained my ankle in Tokyo and pretty much missed the rest of the season, missing this tournament and not really being fit for Istanbul. So this week, every match I play, win or lose, I'm really happy to be healthy, really happy to be No.2
in the world, and really happy to have had the year I've had."
Putting some light on the past of these two players, we can derive that both players are equally capable of beating one another. They played all three head-to-head matches in the current season. Two of them have been won by the
former world number one from Russian whilst Kerber managed to upset Sharapova in the quarter-final of the Open GDF Suez. The Russian defeated her opponent in the semi-final of the Italian Open at Rome as well as the third round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
If you go by the sequence, it is time for the German to shine again and equalize the head-to-head scores but considering the experience of the 25-year-old Russian, it will not be an easy task to upset her especially when she is
in such a sublime run of form. However, there is no doubt about the talent of the 24-year-old German who has bagged 62 wins from his 80 clashes this season.
Sharapova has just lost nine encounters this season and three of them have been against the reigning world number one, Victoria Azarenka, but not to forget out of the rest six losses, one of them came against Kerber as well.
So, the favourite for the contest is definitely the Russian superstar but no one can tell for sure because the slump in the game play of Sharapova can come anytime. It will be interesting to see how things come along for both players.
Initial games will be very crucial in deciding the winner of the contest because psychological game plays a bigger role than the on-court proceedings in a big encounter like this.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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