Kerber edges Osaka, Stephens pulls away at WTA Finals

[October 25, 2018]  Kerber edges Osaka, Stephens pulls away at WTA Finalsop-seeded German Angelique Kerber edged Japanese No. 3 seed Naomi Osaka 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 in a matchup of the two most recent Grand Slam champions Wednesday at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore.

Kerber, who took the crown at Wimbledon, had only 24 winners and one ace but was aided by 50 unforced errors by Osaka, the U.S. Open champion. Kerber broke Osaka's serve in the seventh game of the decisive third set on her way to victory in 2 hours, 33 minutes.

"Naomi is such a great opponent. She played unbelievable, and I think we both played on a really high level tonight," Kerber said in her on-court interview.

"I think that I started really well, and the second set was a really close set. I had my chances, but she played unbelievable in the important moments, and I think it was just one or two points that decided the match."

Osaka struck 42 winners and six aces in the match. She broke Kerber's serve five times, four coming during her second-set win that saw her rally from 5-4 down to avoid an early match point.

Kerber is now 1-1 in round-robin group play after a loss to eighth-seeded Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens on Monday. Osaka is 0-2, having previously lost to fifth-seeded American Sloane Stephens.

"I feel like this match was sort of a continuation of my last match in a way that I feel like I just didn't serve well in either of them," Osaka said after the defeat against Kerber. "I'm playing against the best players in the world, so I feel like I want to be in top form, but I'm not really there. So it's a little bit depressing."
 

Stephens took the lead atop the red group at 2-0, battling past Bertens 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-3 later Wednesday.

The evenly contested match saw each player break the other seven times. Bertens held a 24-18 edge in winners, but Stephens pulled away late, winning six of the final seven games to convert match point on a break at 2 hours, 22 minutes.

"I think we are kind of similar in that we can mix it up a lot and do a lot of different things," Stephens said of Bertens. "So I thought that's why we had so many great points, long points where there were slices and lobs and all types of different things going on."

Stephens would have clinched a spot in the semifinals with a straight-set win. Instead, the red group remains open until the last round of group play on Friday, with the American facing Kerber and Bertens taking on Osaka.

The white group is also undecided entering its third day of action Thursday. Sixth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina (2-0) will face second-seeded Dane and defending champion Caroline Wozniacki (1-1), while seventh-seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova (1-1) goes against fourth-seeded compatriot Petra Kvitova (0-2).

The past six matches at the event have all been decided in the third set -- the most three-set matches at a WTA Finals since 2009.

--Field Level Media

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