PETE ZIEBRON in CINCINNATI
Angelique Kerber - one win away from World #1 Pete Ziebron Images
Angelique Kerber put herself in position to be ranked #1 in the world, surpassing Serena Williams, with a convincing 6-3 6-4 win over Simona Halep on Saturday at the Western & Southern Open. The win ended Halep's 13 match winning streak, winning back to back titles in Bucharest and Montreal.
Kerber double faulted to lose the opening game of the match but immediately broke back to level. in fact, four of the first six games of the match would feature breaks of serve before Kerber held at 3-3 and proceeded to take full command of the match.
Upon winning the seventh game of the opening set, the German end up winning seven consecutive games to lead the match 6-3 4-0 before Halep made a charge. Kerber, who was playing her tenth match in thirteen days on two different continents, appeared to be fatigued as Halep won three consecutive games. Serving at 4-3, Kerber faced a break point but snuffed it out quickly to put herself one game away from the final.
After the match she talked about staying in control at that point: "I was trying to stay positive, because I was calling my coach at 4-3 and he just told me, Stay positive and go for it; playing point by point. And this is what I was doing. I was not thinking about everything around."
Halep held at love at was able to reach 15-30 on the Kerber serve, however Kerber continued to fight and won the next 3 points to advance to the final. The victory was Kerber's third in seven matches against the Romanian and the first on hard courts in four attempts. More importantly, this win put her one win away from world #1.
Simon Halep's 13 match win streak ends, however she remains upbeat. Pete Ziebron Images
Following the match, Halep elaborated on the loss as well as her next event, the US Open: "She played well. She deserve to win the match. She was better today. Wasn't my day and I take it only like a positive tournament. I did a great job. I have only good thoughts about these two tournaments" NOTE: Prior to the Olympics, Halep defeated Kerber in Montreal).
Angelique Kerber will attempt to win the final against big hitting #15 seed Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic to become the #1 player in the world and unseat Serena Williams.
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