US Open: Defeat in three sets: Angelique Kerber misses New York round of 16

Angelique Kerber has missed the jump to the round of 16 at the US Open in New York. Despite a promising start, the Wimbledon winner lost 6:3, 3:6, 3:6 against Dominika Cibulkova (Slovakia/No. 29) and did not reach the second week of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time this season.

After 2:13 hours Cibulkova turned her first match point in the newly opened Louis Armstrong Stadium of Flushing Meadows and caused a surprise. The Slovakian was ultimately rewarded for her risky game, while Kerber seemed a bit too passive in the decisive phases.

Two days after the somewhat shaky three-set victory against Johanna Larrsson (Sweden), the Kieler initially showed herself highly concentrated and repeatedly used her dreaded forehand longline stroke.

Under perfect conditions (25 degrees Celsius/56 percent humidity) the game was characterized from the beginning by an enormous intensity. Kerber had entered the 13th duel against the world rankings 35th with a 7:5 victory record. Nevertheless, Cibulkova, the 1.61 meter small “Pocket Rocket”, had good memories of Kerber.

She was facing her when the right-hander from Bratislava celebrated her greatest success so far in 2016: In the final of the WTA final in Singapore, Cibulkova defeated the pumped-out Kerber and failed the German number one with two major titles and the Olympic silver medal.

Kerber took Cibulkova’s first service game on Saturday noon, but then missed to turn a break point into a possible 3-0 lead. The Slovakian, who has a habit of sniffing the ball, was initially the more aggressive player, but also made significantly more easy mistakes than her opponent.

After the first double mistake, Kerber had to give up their service for the first time for 3:3, but soon after he won the ominous seventh game with a passing shot. After 47 minutes, a Cibulkova volley sealed the set win for the favourite, who had seven “Unforced Errors” less (a total of 9) than her opponent.

However, Kerber then started into the second round with a very poor start and, after two breaks, was trailing 0:3. Not least because Cibulkova was able to minimize her error rate and the three-time major winner did not show enough resistance. After the successful start, she would have had every reason to continue with confidence.

29-year-old Cibulkova, who had to fight for 3:19 hours in the second round to bring Taiwanese Su-Wei Hsieh to her knees, took her time again and again and tried to get Kerber out of rhythm. Later, she was even warned for delay. Although Germany’s number one came back to 3-4, “Domi” repeatedly used her driving strokes – and was rewarded for her risk by winning the second set.

“She must now accept the fight more”, said Eurosport expert Boris Becker with a view to the decisive phase. But Cibulkova, Australian open finalist in 2014, made her first break to 3-1, and she kept accelerating from the baseline while Angie was too cautious.

Although Kerber was able to shorten to 2:3 after a re-break, he then lost two games in a row – and was ultimately unable to do anything. Disappointed, the 2016 Flushing Meadows winner left the court. It will certainly take her a few days to digest this defeat.

These days Kerber had once again felt the magic of New York. No wonder, in 2011 she had made a resounding breakthrough on the biggest of all tennis stages: With her first entry into a Grand Slam semi-final, which she lost in three sets against the later tournament winner Samantha Stosur (Australia). At that time Kerber was number 92 in the world – a hitherto rather undescribed figure in the colourful circuit.

Five years later the next milestone in the beloved Big Apple: The left-hander became the first German after Steffi Graf to reach the top of the world rankings again in 2016. The triumph two days later in the final against Karolina Pliskova (Czech Republic) was not only Kerbers second major coup, but something like the icing on the cake for two unforgettable weeks in the city that never sleeps.

“When I’m here, I always have this special feeling,” said Angie. This time the mission ended in round three.