Agencies
Germany’s Angelique Kerber extended her winning streak to 11 matches with a three-sets win over Caroline Wozniacki to win the Porsche Grand Prix at Stuttgart on Sunday.
Having knocked out three-time champion Maria Sharapova in the second round, Kerber recovered from losing the first set to earn a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory over former world No 1 Wozniacki.
“I fought hard until the end and drained all my reserves of energy,” the Bremen-born Kerber said.
“I am mega-proud to have won here in front of a home crowd.
“I am completely done here, empty. I gave everything I had and the crowd just carried me.
“I had to fight until the very end and I could not have done it without this crowd.”
Since winning the Charleston tournament two weeks ago, Kerber has carried her impressive recent form onto Stuttgart’s clay courts.
Her win over Sharapova was the first time the Russian had tasted defeat in Stuttgart in her fourth appearance at the German venue. The first set of yesterday’s final was all Wozniacki, who broke Kerber in the fourth game then held her serve to take a 4-1 lead before the set was eventually served out.
The German rallied to control the second, blasting her way out to a 3-0 lead before breaking the Wozniacki serve in the sixth game for a 5-1 lead to serve out the set.
Both players traded breaks in the third before Wozniacki looked to be heading for her second tournament victory of 2015 at 5-3.
But Kerber made her shots count and with the Dane under immense pressure on the baseline, Wozniacki was broken in the ninth and 11th games to give the German victory in just over two hours.
Wozniacki lost the 2011 final to another German, Julia Goerges. She claimed her 23rd title in Kuala Lumpur last month.
“It was small things today that made the difference,” Wozniacki, who defeated second-seeded Simona Halep in her semi-final, said. “I had 5-3 in the third set and 30-all, and it could have gone both ways, but she took her chances and it went her way.”
In the doubles, American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic defeated Caroline Garcia of France and Slovenia’s Katarina Srebotnik 6-4, 6-3.
On the men’s tour, Japan’s Kei Nishikori claimed his second consecutive Barcelona Open title with a hard-fought 6-4, 6-4 over Spaniard Pablo Andujar.
Andujar had upset Rafael Nadal’s conqueror Fabio Fognini and David Ferrer on his route to the final and made the perfect start by breaking the world No 5’s serve in the first game. However, Nishikori broke straight back and then sealed the set by breaking once more in the 10th game.
The second set followed a similar pattern as Andujar moved into a 4-2 lead, but Nishikori then upped his level to race through the final four games to seal his ninth career title.
“Finally yes, I am the champion, but in the beginning ... I was just playing one match at a time with so many tough players and all the Spanish players playing here,” said Nishikori.
“I tried to do my best and I am very happy.”
At Bucharest, Spanish veteran Guillermo Garcia-Lopez won his fifth ATP title with a 7-6, 7-6 victory over young Czech Jiri Vesely.
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