Success ends in Nürnberg for Bertens

The WTA tournament of Nürnberg has ended for Kiki bertens. Kirsten Flipkens was too strong for the twofold tournament winner: 5-7 6-3 7-6(3).

Bertens won the tournament in Germany in 2016 and 2017. Including the qualification matches in 2016, the 26-year-old player from Wateringen won 14 matches in a row.

Things went all wrong for the Dutch number one in the match, which had to be postponed due to the rain, against Flipkens. The players had to move to another court after seven games. The centre court was in such a bad state that it became dangerous to play on. Due to the heavy rainfall the gravel needed to get repared.

Bertens and Flipkens continued their match on court 5 with very long volleys and had to be decided with a tiebreak. The 32-year-old Belgian kept her 4-0 advantange and won: 7-3.

The world’s number 69 will play Alison Riske in the semi-finals. The American profited from a withdrawal by Sorana Cirstea.

Bertens will prepare for her beloved Roland Garros which will start next week. She reached the semi-finals of the Grand Slam tournament in 2016.