WTA: Kerber fights his way to the last sixteen in Sydney

A good start for Angelique Kerber at the WTA tournament in Sydney: The German number two defeated Lucie Safarova in three sets and now meets Venus Williams.

The former world number one Angelique Kerber continued her successful series after her strong performance at the Hopman Cup with an energy performance. At their dress rehearsal for the Australian Open, which starts next Monday (15. till 28. January) however, the Kieler struggled with effort through lap one. Kerber won the WTA tournament in Sydney against Czech Lucie Safarova after 2:28 hours 6:7 (3:7), 7:6 (10:8), 6:2.

Kerber took a long time to find her rhythm. In the tiebreak of the second set, the 29-year-old had to fight off two match points. With the break to the 2:1 in the decisive round, Kerber set the course for victory and used her first match point. In the round of sixteen, Kerber will now face Venus Williams (USA), who has been seeded second.

On Sunday, the two-time Grand Slam winner Kerber and Alexander Zverev (Hamburg) had reached the final in Perth and convinced with good performances at the mixed tournament. The two-time Gramnd Slam winner remained in all four singles without a set loss.

There is also good news for the German ladies from Hobart: Anna-Lena Friedsam, who returned home, defeated the Belgian Alison van Uytwanck in three sets and is also in the last sixteen. Tatjana Maria has already retired in Hobart. Maria was defeated by the Croatian Donna Vekic, who has been coached by ex-Kerber coach Torben Beltz since the end of last year.

Here the single tableau of the ladies in Sydney