Angelique Kerber Fights Back to Defeat Zhang Shuai in the First Round of China Open 2019

Published 09/29/2019, 9:45 AM EDT

Follow Us

World No.12 Angelique Kerber fights back to win the first round of the China Open 2019 in Beijing as she came back from a break down in the final set to defeat Zhang Shuai 6-2, 1-6, 6-4 after 1 hour and 57 minutes.

Set one

Angelique Kerber made a confident start in the opening set as she broke twice in the first three games to take a comfortable lead of 3-0. The two players them exchanged breaks in the sixth and the seventh game respectively. The local star, Zhang Shuai lost the opening set 6-2 in just 31 minutes as Kerber held her serve while serving for the set.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Set two

In the second set, Zhang Shuai broke Kerber’s momentum as she earned three breakpoint opportunities in her opening service game, but squandered all the three as Angelique Kerber held her serve.

However, Shuai grabbed the opportunity to break the German in her next service game. Kerber’s serve was broken again in the sixth game of the set as the Chinese took command of the set with a lead of 5-1. Zhang then forced the match to the decider as she served out for the set 6-1 in as many minutes as the first set.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

Set three

With momentum on her side, Zhang Shuai broke Angelique Kerber for the fourth time in the match in the third game of the final set. Angelique Kerber fought back hard to break the 30-year-old in the eighth game to get back on serve in the third set. Kerber broke Zhang again while the latter was serving to stay in the match at 4-5.

ADVERTISEMENT

Article continues below this ad

The German came back to win a thrilling match after a break in the decider. She will meet Polona Hercog in the second round of the Beijing Open 2019.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Varun Khanna

1,339Articles

One take at a time

Starting off as a tennis author in 2018, Varun Khanna has gone on to contribute to EssentiallySports in various capacities. After setting up interviews with the likes of Serena Williams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou, Alizé Cornet, and Noah Rubin, Varun is now part of all major ATP and WTA press conferences and has gone on to pen more than 1300 articles for EssentiallySports. He now heads the tennis and NBA division of the organization.
Show More>