Angelique Kerber was extremely self-critical about her performance after her trembling victory in the second round of Wimbledon.
“I didn’t come into play and didn’t play free. But I fought to the end,” Kerber said after the 3:6, 6:2, 6:4 against 18-year-old qualifier Claire Liu (USA) and said: “I’m glad that I somehow managed it in the end. There won’t be much analysis of this game. I’m looking forward to the next match.”
The preliminary decision was made on Court 12 when the tenth in the world rankings scored her 5:3 serve in the third set after a total of five consecutive breaks and shortly after sealed the hard-fought victory after 1:54 hours. Most recently, Kerber missed the third round of the most important grass court tournament in 2013.
Naomi Osaka awaits the 2016 Wimbledon finalist in the round of 16 on Saturday, and the 18th seeded Japanese has lost the last two of a total of three duels against Kerber. The only success was achieved in the first round of the 2017 US Open by Sascha Bajin from Munich.
Osaka has a huge respect for the former number one: “I see nothing that doesn’t make her good. She moves great on the court and stays calm,” praised the 20-year-old.
Kerber was self-critical after her performance on Thursday, but also fierce as usual: “I know that I have to improve. It took me a few days to find my way into the tournament,” she explained, looking towards the third round: “It will be a game with short rallies. I’ve got to fight it.”
Kerber has also noted that five players have already been eliminated from the top ten before the third round. “Yes, you can tell. But I try not to look left or right and go my way,” stressed the 30-year-old.