By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, March 13, 2017
Festering frustration and a stubborn opponent caught up to Angelique Kerber late in the final set as she flung her Yonex racquet across the court.
Kerber picked up her stick then wrenched control of a match that seemed to be slipping away.
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Rallying from a 2-4 deficit in the decisive set, Kerber fought past Pauline Parmentier, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, to advance to the BNP Paribas Open round of 16 for the first time in four years.
The world No. 2, who will supplant Serena Williams and regain the top spot in the rankings at the end of the fortnight, will face Elena Vesnina for a place in the quarterfinals. Vesnina defeated Timea Babos, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
American Lauren Davis dispatched Julia Goerges, 6-1, 6-4, and will face either 28th-seeded Kristina Mladenovic or 2015 Indian Wells champion Simona Halep next.
A year after Kerber fell to 64th-ranked Denisa Allertova in her Indian Wells opener, she teetered on the ledge of loss against the 62nd-ranked Parmentier, who befuddled the German with her topspin at times and whipped forehand winners down the line.
This was a sweaty, stick struggle as Kerber saved a set point in the first set then exploited a Parmentier oversight in the final set. A Kerber strike down the line missed the sideline, but Parmentier, who doesn’t play on stadium courts as much as her opponent, failed to challenge the call that would have given her a 5-2 lead.
A physically-grueling fourth game foreshadowed the struggle to come in 93 degree heat. The 22-point game spanned nearly 12 minutes. A Parmentier double fault followed by a forehand swing volley that flew long gave Kerber the break on her fifth break point for a 3-1 lead.
Shrugging it off, the Frenchwoman belted a deep backhand return coaxing a stretched error to break back in the fifth game.
Handcuffed by the Frenchwoman’s shoulder-high topspin at times, Kerber scrambled to dig out a fine one-handed backhand lob at 30-all that helped her hold for 4-3. Pushing the US Open champion further back behind the baseline with topspin, Parmentier stepped in and struck a forehand that clipped the tape and landed in leveling after eight games.
An unsettled Kerber was spraying the ball and Parmentier exploited the errors breaking at love for 5-4 to serve for the set.
Kerber saved a set point in the 10th game, curled a forehand winner down the line and drew a floated forehand to break back.
Wailing in frustration after another error gave Kerber triple set point, Parmentier saved the first with an inside-out forehand.
On the second set point, the Frenchwoman was up quickly to a mid-court forehand but did not attack the shot. Instead, she spun a forehand back at Kerber, who eventually produced a forehand pass down the line snatching the 62-minute opener with her third break of the set.
Continuing to attack her shots with purpose, the world No. 62 broke to start the second set then broke again at 15 extending the lead to 3-0.
Putting the two-time Grand Slam champion under constant stress in her service games, Parmentier converted all three break points she earned in the set bursting out to a 5-1 lead.
Control eluded Kerber, who couldn’t tame her forehand for stretches of the set. Sailing a forehand long to face triple-set point, Kerber clanked her fourth double fault into net as Parmentier collected the second set leveling the match after 99 sweaty minutes.
Parmentier effectively used the deep drive to displace her opponent then sometimes belted short angles that Kerber could not catch. A surge of eight straight points saw Parmentier back up a love hold with a love break for 3-1.
Displacing the second seed with the wide slice, Parmentier spiked a bounce smash for 4-1. One point from a 5-2 lead, Parmentier sufferd a judgement lapse failing to challenge a Kerber backhand down the line that Hawk Eye replay showed was side. That oversight proved costly. When Parmentier slapped a forehand into net, Kerber was back on serve at 3-4.
Forgoing a baseball cap in the face of a scorching sun, Parmentier staved off four break points in the 11th game. Kerber caught the sideline with a forehand for a fifth break point. When Parmentier shanked a framed forehand, Kerber scored her seventh break and would serve for the match.
On her second match point, Kerber double faulted into the net. Kerber saved a break point and finally closed an epic struggle clipping the tape with a crosscourt forehand then pushing a forehand down the line to seal a two-and-a-half hour struggle.