Bertens wins again in Miami and meets Kerber

Kiki Bertens awaits a trial of strength with Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber in the third round of the Premier Mandatory tournament in Miami. The player from Wateringen won the second round 6-1 4-6 6-1 beating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (WTA-28) who was 25th seed.
The player from Wateringen won her second round match beating 25th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (WTA-28) 6-1 4-6 6-1.

Bertens also defeated higher ranked opponents in her previous two matches, and now, for the first time, qualifies for the last 32 in Miami. Including her wins in the qualifiers, she has recorded four successive victories in Florida.
There were striking differences between both players in their service games. Bertens won over 60 per cent of the points in both her first and second serve while Pavlyuchenkova won only 48 per cent on her first serve and 44 per cent for the second.

Double faults
Partly thanks to a few crucial double faults Pavlyuchenkova was broken twice in the first set. In the second set the Russian came to 4-1 en 5-2 but Bertens managed to close the gap with a very nice forehand passing shots.
Serving to keep the set at 4-5 things went wrong for the world’s number 108. Pavlyuchenkova won the second set with a nice deep backhand. In the third set Bertens was handed a break in the first game when her opponent double faulted.
After a second break, Pavlyuchenkova requested a medical timeout to be treated for her shoulder.
In the final stages Pavlyuchenkova looked deflated and Bertens did not encounter any problems. Now she is awaiting her first match with Kerber, who mercilessly defeated Barbora Strycova (WTA-32) 6-1 6-1. For Kerber, the world’s number three, it was her first WTA win after claiming the Australian Open.

Doubles
Later that day, the doubles tournament ended for Bertens after just one performance. Together with her regular partner, Johanna Larsson from Sweden, they lost narrowly in the first round against Samantha Stosur and Casey Dellacqua from Australia: 3-6 7-6(5) 10-7.

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Source: TENNiS.nl