Angelique Kerber was crowned the US Champion recently, winning her second Grand Slam title of the year and her second overall as well. Prior to her final against Czech rising star Karolina Pliskova, the No.1 ranking was confirmed for Kerber as Serena Williams exited the US Open in the semi-finals which ended her 309-week stay at the top of the WTA rankings as of now.
However, Kerber did not fare well in her very first tournament since becoming the first German female player after Steffi Graf and the third German player to attain the No.1 ranking as she was knocked out by two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the third round of the Wuhan Open by the scoreline of 6-7, 7-5, 6-4.
Kvitova, who had been quite patchy this year, saved 17 of 22 break points to upset the reigning Australian and US Open champion, marking her first win over Kerber since the 2014 Fed Cup. Kerber had previously beaten the Czech in their fourth round encounter at the US Open in straight sets.
However, besides the upset, another thing that brightened up their match was an epic 41-shot rally in the eighth game of the final set which was eventually won by Kerber. With Kvitova leading 4-3, she was serving at deuce.
Also Read: Top 10 Moments of Angelique Kerber in 2016
The rally was characterized by beautiful and powerful groundstrokes by both players before Kvitova approached the net after hitting the 37th shot of the rally. Then at the 40th shot, Kerber hit a lofted shot from the baseline which Kvitova was just able to hit the net and it was a break point to Kerber.
However, Kvitova eventually managed to avenge her US Open defeat. Kvitova later beat Australian Open semi-finalist Johanna Konta and just now beat fourth-seeded Romanian Simona Halep to set up a final encounter against 2014 Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova.
