Sloane Stephens and Angelique Kerber win at WTA Finals to leave Red Group wide open
Naomi Osaka can still qualify for semi-finals despite second three-set defeat
Wednesday 24 October 2018 19:25, UK
Sloane Stephens recovered from a break down in the final set to beat Kiki Bertens 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-3 at the WTA Finals and leave the Red Group wide open heading into the final round-robin matches.
The result coupled with a 6-4 5-7 6-4 victory for Angelique Kerber against Naomi Osaka leaves all four players still in contention for qualification into the semi-finals.
Stephens needed a straight-sets victory to progress past the group stage while Bertens could have ensured her berth with a win but neither of those scenarios occurred, with the match finishing at nearly 1 am local time in Singapore.
"I just tried my very best from the first point in the third set and it didn't go my way immediately but I just kept battling," Stephens said
The first set between Stephens and Bertens included four breaks of serve before the American gained the ascendancy by winning the first tiebreak of the 2018 finals as she won five of the first six points in the tiebreaker.
But Bertens, who had won nine consecutive matches against top 10 opponents, responded impressively to ease through the second set against the 2017 US Open champion and force a deciding set - the sixth match this week to go the distance.
The Dutch player maintained her momentum to build an early 2-0 lead but Stephens switched the momentum of the match in her favour, as Bertens' unforced errors increased, to win after two hours and 22 minutes.
Kerber had earlier defeated US Open champion Osaka in three sets to improve her qualification bid beyond the round-robin stage.
The three-time Grand Slam champion, who lost a thrilling deciding set against Bertens on Monday, defeated the Japanese star to improve her hopes of a maiden title at the end of season event.
"I had my chances in the second set but she played some unbelievable tennis to win that one, and it felt like there was only one or two points in the decider," Kerber said.
"It was great to win such a great match and to be able to look forward to another one in two days from now."
Kerber was the first to hold serve in the fourth game after both players made a tentative start but she was forced to save five break points as she closed out the first set.
The second set included seven further breaks of serve and Osaka fashioned a deciding third set when she won three games in succession from 5-4 down.
Kerber earned the crucial breakthrough in another hard-fought set when Osaka made a series of errors from 40-15 and the former world No 1 took advantage to seal victory.
The final round of matches on Friday will see Stephens take on top seed Kerber, needing a victory to ensure her passage through to the last four while a first win for Osaka against Bertens could see her join the American in the last four.
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