By Erik Gudris | Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Angelique Kerber moved into her first Miami semifinal with a solid performance over an erratic Madison Keys.
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No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber used her defensive skills to move past big hitting Madison Keys and reach her first ever Miami Open semifinal.
“I was trying to attack her second serve,” Kerber told ESPN’s Brad Gilbert on her strategy for the match. “She has a great first serve and I knew this beforehand so I was trying to be ready for the return. I’m just happy to be for the first time in the semis.”
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Their previous meeting at last year’s Charleston final ended up being a memorable three set battle. So anticipation was high that once again Keys’ power and Kerber’s defense would offer fans a compelling contest.
Keys, who abruptly ended her trial coaching arrangement with former major champion Mats Wilander, started strong early against the reigning Australian Open winner. After fighting off break points, Keys later used her big forehand to break Kerber’s serve for 2-1.
Kerber ended up breaking the 22nd seeded Keys right back for 2-all. Though Keys hit big winners with her favored forehand side, that wing also leaked multiple errors. Yet Keys managed to keep herself in touch with another winner for 3-all.
The lefty German made her move though on Keys’ next service game. Strong returns at 30-all allowed Kerber to break Keys again for a 5-3 lead.
Kerber served out the set 6-3 thanks to Keys sending a botched return well long.
By now, Keys had racked up 25 unforced errors to just 5 from Kerber.
On the changeover, Keys’ coach Jesse Levine told his charge, to “jab more first before going for the knockout” hoping that would instill more patience in Keys during the rallies.
Things quickly turned more in favor of Kerber at the start of the second set. Keys dropped serve again to open the set. After Kerber held, the German then broke again after Keys netted a forehand.
Keys managed to hold serve and get on the scoreboard for 4-1. But by now Kerber was in too much of a groove from all sides of the court. This included solid defense that eventually caused a Keys error at net.
Kerber would eventually serve out the match 6-3, 6-2 after Keys dumped a final forehand into the net.
Keys hit 19 winners but also posted 39 unforced errors in the match. Kerber’s stats were much cleaner with five winner and 11 unforced errors.
It’s the first ever Miami semifinal for the German. Waiting for her there will be a familiar opponent in Victoria Azarenka. This will be the first meeting between the two since Kerber beat Azarenka in Melbourne en route to winning the title.
“Like today I will try to go out there and focus on my game and beat her and also enjoy being in the semis.”