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Kerber Marks 29th Birthday with Second-Round Win
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Defending champion Angelique Kerber marked her 29th birthday – angrily at times – with a 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-2 win Wednesday over fellow German Carina Witthoeft.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JANUARY 16: Angelique Kerber of Germany celebrates in her first round match against Lesia Tsurenko of the Ukraine on day one of the 2017 Australian Open at Melbourne Park on January 16, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Kerber, who beat Serena Williams in the Australian Open final last year, then won the U.S. Open in September, was her own worst enemy in the tiebreaker, double-faulting twice to turn a 3-2 lead into a 4-3 deficit.
Witthoeft, who had won a long rally which caused Kerber to swipe her racket toward the court just ahead of the double faults, won the next three points to level the match.
Kerber also started poorly in the third set, dropping her service, but rebounded to take a 4-1 lead, saving two break points in the fifth game, before closing out the match in 2 hours, 8 minutes.
She will next play the winner of Wednesday’s second-round match between Kristyna Pliskova and Irina-Camelia Begu.
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