Angelique Kerber and Belinda Bencic share thoughts about their desert match
The 8th seed Angelique Kerber took down an in-form Belinda Bencic 6-4, 6-2 in 67 minutes for the place in the 29th WTA final and the first since Wimbledon last year. This was the fifth encounter between the two and the second straight win for Kerber who lost serve four times but grabbed no less than seven breaks to erase that deficit, winning 60% of the return points against the rival who had nothing more left in the tank after a great couple of weeks she enjoyed.
The Swiss opened the match with a break before losing serve at love in game four after a double fault, bringing Kerber back to the positive side of the scoreboard. A backhand down the line winner sent Belinda 3-2 up and she fired a service winner for a hold at 15 in game six and even a more significant advantage.
The problem is, that was all we saw from the youngster in the opener as Angelique claimed four straight games to steal the first set 6-4. She broke back in game eight following a backhand error from Belinda and clinched the set with another break in game ten, building the momentum before the rest of the encounter.
The second set offered five breaks in the opening six games and it was the German who controlled the pace of the scoreboard, delivering four easy breaks and moving into the final when Belinda hit a double fault in game eight.
"Yeah, I led 4-2 but I didn't feel like I was really ahead. I was really up and down at the beginning, not figuring out so much what to do against her to make.. you know, she took my weapons away with how she was playing against me. So I think she did that well. Obviously she's a great baseline player, so she's not gonna miss. Also, it's the opposite for me, you know, playing against a lefty. She's using that very well and very smart, I think. I'm just a little bit tired because it's way past my bedtime, but otherwise, physically good. The last couple of weeks have given me a lot of confidence, making me believe in my game, it's working well.
You know, I'm playing very freely on the court. And I think I improved in some things and even today I learned so much. Maybe I didn't have quite enough energy to problem-solve today, especially against Angie, who is, you know, very clever on the court. I'm sure, once I arrive in Miami, I will be super, you know, hyper again to play. I think my head is different. You know, work-wise, it's kind of always the same. I feel that I had to improve my fitness a lot. In the top-100, everybody can hit the ball the same, but it's just the head, the mental part," Bencic said.
"Yeah, Belinda made a strong start. She came out and played good tennis. I was finding my rhythm a little bit, especially in the first few games. And then I started to step in a little bit and playing aggressive. I think that was the key, that I took the match in my hand, and I was going for it, trying to focus on my tennis. So I was not looking too much on the other side of the court. I was trying to stay concentrated from the first point. She's always an opponent who is fighting until the last point. She has improved and she is a better player now than she was a few years ago. Belinda had a lot of confidence and played a great tournament overall, beating tough opponents and having nothing to lose in this match as well.
I saw the match between Bianca and Elina today a little bit and I know that Andreescu is playing hard and she is going for it. I mean, I have learned a lot, especially in the last few tournaments after Australia that I'm really on the right way to play, that I try to improve my tennis during my practice sessions. That was the goal here, to play every single day the best I can and it works so far. You can't be at the top the whole year and play the best tennis. This is what I have learned during the last years although it is important to play consistently and always trying to do your best.
I'm always trying to find a way to play as good as I can. Of course I'm looking back on these days where I beat all the players, and I have been the No. 1 player in the world, winning Grand Slams. So it's always on my mind, which will be forever, I think," Kerber said.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Y1mnIM
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