The rise of Kiki Bertens: in Paris for the victory?
Kiki Bertens has now become a top-level tennis player, especially on the clay court. Since 2016, her rise has been unstoppable and her improvements are continuous and exponential with each passing season. This year, the Dutchwoman has achieved the best career results and, at the age of 27, she has experienced her best season.
Not only that, if her improvements were to be constant in the coming years, in terms of results and titles won, then Bertens could aspire to become the tennis player to beat on clay.
Breaking into the top-five of the WTA rankings, as the world no. 4 is her latest achievement in the last five months, during which she won her first Premier Mandatory of the career in Madrid, after her winning the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy.
From the beginning of the year, she reached the second round in Brisbane, semi-finals in Sydney, second round at the Australian Open, victory in St. Petersburg, quarter-finals in Doha, second round in Dubai, fourth round at Indian Wells and Miami, third round in Charleston , semi-final in Stuttgart, victory in Madrid and semi-final in Rome.
At the French Open, she will start among the favorites and, from what we have seen in these weeks, Bertens could also be the most accredited player for the final victory if, of course, she can manage the pressure and emotion that such an event can bring to a tennis player. But surely she will have the same chances as Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova and the others.
Much will also depend on her athletic shape; this year Bertens has played many matches, but in these weeks she is reaching the top of her psycho-physical level. It should be added that she is also achieving good results and improvements even on hard courts.
It will be interesting to also see her progress also on grass, with the clay season that is now reaching its final. The French Open, meanwhile, will give us a more precise dimension on the status and ambitions of Bertens, who to date has won nine titles in 11 finals played.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2X42zDH
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