The 2020 US Open kicked off Monday without fans and they were truly missed. On Louis Armstrong Stadium, 2016 US Open champion Angelique Kerber faced Ajla Tomljanović. This was the first Grand Slam since the pandemic started, and it started off great.
The match started with both players breaking each other’s serve in the first four games. Then both women hold their serve until Kerber broke the Australians serve to take a 5-4 advantage. She then went to serve for the set to win it 6-4 in 40 minutes. Kerber didn’t look that bad despite not playing since January. The Australian didn’t play poorly at all but didn’t take advantage of her opportunities of breaking her opponents serve.
In the second set the German broke the Aussie’s serve to take a 3-2 lead. Angie looked confident and her game was getting better and better. Although, her second serve wasn’t helping her as she had five double faults in 18 games played. We all know Kerber’s serve isn’t one of her weapons, but she was making it up with using different angle shots and moving Ajla around the court.
Coming into this match Tomljanović had more recent match-play under her belt than the German. That obviously didn’t matter as Kerber dominated the second set and broke Kerber once again to take a 5-2 lead.
Kerber used her vast experience to take control of the match and took advantage when the break points presented to her. Her break point percentage was perfect as she had five break point opportunities and took all of them.
The match got a little interesting as the Australian broke Kerber’s serve when the German was serving for the match. Ajla managed to hold her serve and forced Kerber to serve for the match once again. It got tricky for Kerber in the end but managed to close out the game.
Despite not playing since this year’s Australian Open, the German looked good and will continue to build and play better next match. Angelique Kerber took the match 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 30 minutes. She awaits the winner between Caroline Dolehide vs Anna-Lena Friedsam.
Main Photo from Getty.
