Angelique Kerber through to WTA Monterrey Open final
Sunday 9 April 2017 09:54, UK
World No 1 Angelique Kerber is through to the WTA Monterrey Open final after seeing off Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro 7-6 (8-6) 6-1.
The final will be Kerber's second appearance at this stage in Monterrey following her 2013 final defeat to Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
In a twist of fate, the German will now face a rematch of that final defeat after Pavlyuchenkova, who has won the Monterrey Open three times, also booked her passage through, defeating France's Caroline Garcia 6-2 6-4 in the other semi-final.
"It's a completely new year, so I will not think about my last final here," Kerber joked in her post-match press conference.
"It was three years ago, and anything is possible. I'm going out there tomorrow to try to play my best tennis and try to win the match."
Suarez Navarro came into Monterrey with just a single victory all season after a shoulder injury ruled her out for much of 2017, but the 28-year-old world No 14 pushed the top seed to the limit in a tight first set.
Despite going a double break and 1-4 down to Kerber, Suarez Navarro battled back to 4-4, before sending the match into a tiebreak.
The tense and nervy first set took over an hour to complete with a string of marathon rallies, before it was eventually settled by Kerber.
That tight success pushed Kerber onto a comfortable 6-1 second set victory, as she powered pass Suarez Navarro in just 20 minutes to confirm her final place.
"I think we both played on a really high level today," Kerber added. "It was a really tough match. It's always tough to play against her, I know this because I've played her in a lot of tough battles in the past.
"I tried to stay focused, especially in the beginning of the second set, and I'm happy to be in the second final here."
Elsewhere, 19-year-old pair Daria Kasatkina and Jelena Ostapenko will both be battling for a first WTA title when they meet in the final at Charleston on Sunday.
Latvia's Ostapenko out-lasted 11th-seeded Croatian veteran Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, while Russia's Kasatkina rallied for a 3-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over Germany's Laura Siegemund.
"It's nice. Finally I made the final," Kasatkina said. "Don't know what will happen tomorrow. Never have been in the final. So we will see."
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