Angelique Kerber reached her third final of 2015 at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham after comfortably beating the rain and her opponent Sabine Lisicki in a much anticipated all German semi-final clash on Saturday afternoon.
Kerber beats Lisicki in Birmingham Semi-Final
Fourth seed Kerber proved that she knows just how to beat Lisicki on any surface. She is now 6-0 against her German compatriot, a statistic which looked like it was playing on the mind of Lisicki, who looked out-gunned at every stage of the match.
It was no surprise that Kerber started the match the better of the two woman, breaking #8 seed Lisicki for an early 3-1 lead. Kerber took full advantage of her opponent’s weak serve; Lisicki is usually very dependable, with one of the fastest and most reliable serves on tour, and the German has been relying on it all week.
With Lisicki not quite up to her usual best on serve Kerber pounced, jumping on her returns and putting pressure on her to come up with the goods. The added pressure caused the 2011 Champion to get just 45 percent of first serves in, and only win 56 percent on her first serve and only 45 percent on her second. Kerber took full advantage, breaking twice to take the opening set 6-3 in under 30 minutes.
Despite the rain causing havoc for large portions of the day, Kerber managed to control her emotions, the weather and her opponent. With the first set comfortably in the bag, she stepped it up a gear. With tremendous movement throughout the match and persistent accuracy she managed to steer the second set just like the first, keeping hold of an early break advantage.
Once the world #10 broke Lisicki in the second set it was all over; Lisicki has never come back to defeat her compatriot, and the match ended 6-3, 6-3.
Not only was Kerber extremely impressive when returning serve, but her groundstrokes were flawless throughout the match as well as managing to keep her unforced error count to a minimum. She managed to keep a high level on her serve throughout, winning 81 percent on her first serve and 70 percent on her second. As well as producing a high level of serve throughout the #4 seed never faced a break point.
With her win in Birmingham Kerber now has a chance to win her third title of 2015, her first coming in Charleston; her second title coming later in Stuttgart. Kerber will play Karolina Pliskova in the 2015 Aegon Classic final on Sunday after Pliskova brushed aside young Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic 6-2 7-6(6).
The two women have met on four previous occasions, splitting the matches 2-2, however it is Pliskova who won their two previous encounters, the most recent coming in Sydney earlier this year. The two women have never faced off on a grass-court, which will make for a very interesting viewing when they face off for the fifth time tomorrow. Both women have reached the Birmingham final for the first time, and there is guaranteed to be a new name on the trophy come Monday, as long as the rain stays at bay.
