By Erik Gudris | Tuesday, July 4, 2017
For World No. 1 Angelique Kerber these days, a win is a win. That was certainly the case at Wimbledon as last year’s finalist moved ahead into the second round on Tuesday.
Wimbledon: Vandeweghe Charges into Second Round
At stake for Kerber this fortnight is her coveted top WTA ranking which is on the line as the German continues to struggle this season. Kerber was hoping for a better result than last month at the French Open when she crashed out of the first round to Ekaterina Makarova.
Kerber played well enough to withstand a challenge from American qualifier Irina Falconi before finally closing out the match 6-4, 6-4.
“When I walk on the Centre Court all the memories from last year came back,” Kerber said after the win. “It was amazing but I was focusing on the match today first round is alway tough but I’m happy to be back playing here again.”
Kerber was given the honor of opening Centre Court play on Tuesday as defending champion Serena Williams is not competing due to her pregnancy.
While Kerber was expected to win, what wasn’t expected was the fine play from the currently ranked No. 247 American who struggled with illness last year before returning to the tour.
Kerber enjoyed an early service break in the first set as she jumped out to a 3-0 lead. But Falconi, not overawed by being on Centre Court, started playing better. The American mixed things up from all sides of the court including hitting several drop shot winners.
Kerber, with a forehand winner, eventually closed out the set 6-4.
When Kerber broke for 3-2 in the second set, it seemed like the match would end soon. But Falconi refused to go away. Falconi rifled a forehand pass winner to set up a break point. Then Falconi enjoyed a let cord winner on the next point to level at 3-all.
By now Falconi had hit 21 winners to just 13 from Kerber showing that the American was the one actually dictating play. Kerber responded by raising her game just when she needed to down the stretch.
At 4-all, Falconi finally couldn’t keep up her impressive play. A few uncessary errors allowed Kerber to break once again for 5-4.
Kerber didn’t waste anytime in the final game as she struck a forehand winner on match point to seal the 6-4, 6-4 win in just under 90 minutes.
When asked about the pressures of being No. 1, Kerber said, “I think now I can say that it's easier to go there than to stay there.I mean, of course it's tough to reach the No. 1 place and also winning Grand Slams. But if you are there,it's much harder to, yeah, being there and making all the things you have to do. You have to learn a lot of new things. New experiences. So I think it's harder to be there.”
Kerber next faces former Wimbledon semifinalist Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium in the second round.