With a 6:1, 2:6, 6:4 semifinal victory over petra kvitova from the czech republic, the 24-year-old from kiel entered the final of the high-ranking hard-court tournament.
There, germany’s number one will meet li na from china on sunday evening. Last year’s french open winner won against venus williams, who was handicapped by back problems, 7:5, 3:6, 6:1. "I want to enjoy the final. I’ve had a great week here, I’m looking forward to it and I’m definitely ready," kerber stressed in an interview with the dpa news agency. A week before the start of the US open, the seventh-ranked player in the world underlined her status as one of the best by reaching the final.
The self-confidence before her fourth final of the year – there were victories in paris and copenhagen – is understandable. Against kvitova, kerber already celebrated 53. Season’s win – no other player has won as many times in 2012. When it comes to the third set, the left-hander is almost unbeatable – her record is 19:1. "She’s a strong opponent, with no real weak ones. She doesn’t give her opponent much," said mary joe fernandez as an expert for the TV channel ESPN. The former world-class player had called kerber a "giant killer" after her quarterfinal victory over olympic champion serena williams, who had previously been unbeaten in 19 matches.
Kvitova had won the tournament in montreal against li just a few days ago. But kerber was just as unimpressive as the day before against williams. "It was a very, very tough match from the first exchange of the ball. But i felt very good right away," she said. When kerber was leading 2-1 after a break in the second set, there were many signs of a two-set victory.
But kvitova never gave up, immediately managed a rebreak and four more game winners in a row to level the set. "You have to do something and force them to make mistakes," kerber coach torben beltz said when his protege called on him during a break in play. In the decisive set, kvitova appeared to have more pressure at the beginning, but continued to make numerous easy errors. Kerber acted with concentration, converted her third match point after 1:54 hours, raised both arms high and applauded contentedly to the audience.
For the first time in tournament history, the men’s final was between the world’s two best players. Roger federer and novak djokovic set up a dream final on sunday. World number one federer won the swiss duel against compatriot stanislas wawrinka 7:6 (7:4), 6:3 and will travel to the US open as the industry leader regardless of the outcome of the final match. Serb djokovic took revenge for losing the bronze match at the olympics in london with a 6:3, 6:2 win over argentine’s juan martin del potro.