DUBAI // Opponents beware. Julia Goerges says she has never felt better physically on a tennis court and, inspired by compatriot Angelique Kerber’s Australian Open success, the German says she is ready to write a few fairy tales of her own.
The world No 54 Goerges, after peaking at No 15 in 2012, showed the kind of damage her heady shotmaking can cause on a tennis court, as she made short work of two-time grand slam champion and world No 18 Svetlana Kuznetsova in 55 minutes at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Monday.
She hit more unforced errors (15) than the eighth-seeded Kuznetsova (nine) in the 6-0, 6-1 win, but smashed 28 winners to the Russian’s four, and that made all the difference.
“I just didn’t give her any chance to get into the match and get into her rhythm, because if she has time she creates good balls and deep balls, and that’s what I tried to take away from her,” said Goerges, who has now improved her career head-to-head against Kuznetsova to 4-2.
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Her last win over the Russian also came here in Dubai, in 2012. That was in the first round as well, and that year, she went all the way to the final before losing to Agnieszka Radwanska.
Goerges, 27, is not looking that far ahead, but does feel good about her game at the moment.
“If you want to compare it to when I was No 15, like four years ago, I think I’m in much better shape, honestly,” she said.
“The game has developed over the years, and everybody got much fitter. We now have a grand slam champion [Kerber] in our nation, and that motivates us even more.”
Kerber’s triumph in Melbourne has also been an inspiration for another German Andrea Petkovic, who beat Italian Camila Giorgi 6-2, 6-1.
“I have known Angie for so long and I have been there through the tough times when she didn’t believe she could win anything else and anything big,” said Petkovic, who was considering retirement last November.
“It was just a very special moment I think for all of us, for all of German tennis, and especially for Angie, and then our friendship.”
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