WATCH: Angelique Kerber triumphs in Strasbourg with match point of the season

Sunday, 22 May 2022 at 04:15

Updated at Monday, 15 July 2024 at 16:56

byNurein Ahmed

Few players on the WTA Tour can push the boundaries of muscle stretching and Angelique Kerber is one of them, showing her dexterity and stamina on match point.

Kerber encountered resistance against Slovenia's Kaja Juvan, what turned out to be the longest WTA final of the 2022 season, lasting three hours and 16 minutes.

It was the German lefty who came up trumps winning her second Tour-level since 2018. It was her first WTA title of the season and the 14th of her career.

The former World No. 1 earned revenge for losing to Juvan in straight sets on the same surface at the 2020 French Open. Despite her extraordinary retrieval skills and endurance capabilities, clay has not been the kindest surface.

She has only made two quarterfinal appearances in 14 visits to Paris. But her latest win on the clay of Strasbourg, which is not far from the French capital, suggests that Kerber can be considered a potential dark horse at the clay-court major in the next two weeks.

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The fans got their money's worth on Saturday as they enjoyed a wonderful tennis spectacle, with Kerber denying Juvan her first WTA title in three tie-break sets.

The match point epitomized why Kerber is one of the ultimate competitors out there after a lung-busting exchange that almost reduced both players to their knees before she finished it off with a sumptuous forehand passing shot. If Strasbourg had a roof, it would have gone off because of the noise.

After a run of six successive defeats, Kerber is back on the winner's podium with five victories during the week and she was happy on how she closed the match.

"The third set, it was head-to-head, it was really close. Playing three tiebreaks in the final shows that it was a really close and tough battle, and I’m really happy how I played at the end, and how I played the last point, actually!"

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Simply INCREDIBLE 🤯 In one of the matches (and match points) of the season, 🇩🇪 @AngeliqueKerber clinches a 14th career WTA title with a 7-6(5), 6-7(0), 7-6(5) victory over Juvan in Strasbourg!! #IS22