Angelique Kerber sends Venus Williams packing in late night thriller

Angelique Kerber

Night matches at the US Open always deliver terrific encounters, and the one between Angelique Kerber and Venus Williams was no different.

Kerber, the player who has won the most matches on the WTA tour this season with 54, produced a fine display to defeat Venus Williams 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in a morning finish on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Williams, twice a US Open champion, was trailing 6-2, 2-0, but managed to get the break back in the second set, take it, and force a decider, but, it was one that Kerber clinched to seal her place in the next round.

“I knew this was not an easy second round,” said Kerber, last year’s semi-finalist here at Flushing Meadows and a semi-finalist at Wimbledon this year, as well as a quarter-finalist at the French Open just before that.

“She's such a great player. She has won so many Grand Slams. And I knew before the match the crowd would be behind her. But it was an unbelievable feeling to play her out there, and it's the first night match I've won here, so it's very special,” Kerber added.

After storming back at her opponent, Williams admitted that “fighting” was all she could do against the sixth seed.

“Today all I had was fight because I didn't play well. I don't feel like I put together more than two good points before I had to make two or three errors,” said the American. “I looked at the stats, and I made 60 errors. It's difficult to win like that.”

The favourite for the tournament Serena Williams fared better than her sister, defeating Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-2, 6-4. The player Serena beat in the final of Wimbledon Agnieszka Radwanska came from a set down to defeat Carla Suarez Navarro.

French Open finalist Sara Errani beat Vera Dushevina 6-0, 6-1, while former French Open champion and world No.1 Ana Ivanović defeated Sofia Arvidsson 6-2, 6-2. There were also wins for Dominika Cibulkova, Maria Kirilenko, and Jelena Jankovic.

İsmail Vedat

Find us on facebook and twitter