London – All tennis fans were allowed to come back to Wimbledon – and they saw Angelique Kerber in title form. The 2018 winner closed her eyes in disbelief and clenched her fists, because after the 6: 2, 6: 3 over the Czech Karolina Muchova, the 33-year-old is only one step away from her third final in the classic lawn game. “I’m so happy to be in the semifinals,” said Kerber after her fourth semifinal entry, which seemed light years away after difficult months.
Bad Homburg as an encouragement
Immediately after the match, the former number one in the world again emphasized how much she was enjoying the time in London, where last year it was not possible to play due to the corona pandemic: “I was so looking forward to the grass season. I am so happy to play my tennis, fight and keep my heart on the court. “
Obviously, it has proven that Kerber played at the small tournament in Bad Homburg. Not only did she receive great praise from all sides for her work as a tournament ambassador, but recently she also found the feeling of victory again in the tranquil Hessian health resort. Finally she was allowed to bathe again in the cheering of the audience and after a long wait even lift a trophy – this belief in one’s own strength is more important than anything else in the mental sport of tennis. This self-confidence can also be clearly seen in Kerber at Wimbledon, with a completely different body language, she fights her opponents down as in the best of days and does not get nervous even in tight situations.
In the semifinals this Thursday, the Kiel woman will face the world number one Ashleigh Barty, who won the Australian duel with Ajla Tomljanovic 6: 1, 6: 3. “It doesn’t matter who I play against, it’s going to be another fight,” she said. Kerber was also in the semifinals in 2012 and 2016, five years ago she reached the final of the Grand Slam tournament played on grass for the first time, but lost to Serena Williams. In 2018 she got her revenge.
In the other semifinals, the former world number one Karolina Pliskova from the Czech Republic will meet the number two seeded Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus. After the 6: 4, 6: 3 over the Tunisian Ons Jabeur, Sabalenka is in a Grand Slam semi-final for the first time, and the strong Pliskova has now managed to do this in all four major tournaments. The 29-year-old beat Viktorija Golubic from Switzerland 6: 2, 6: 2.
All places were allowed to be occupied
For the first time, all available seats could be occupied again on Tuesday, and the spectators on the 12,345 fan but not completely filled seat number one immediately saw a highly concentrated Kerber under the roof, which was closed due to rain. The first three games were fought over, all of them went to the North Germans – also because Muchova helped with one or two mistakes. But Kerber also showed world-class punches, looked snappy and used her chances. A bad backhand from Muchova brought the 28th in the world rankings the smooth win of the set.
The six ranks better placed Muchova immediately had three chances in a row to take the service game from Kerber. But in the third comparison of the two, the winner of three Grand Slam titles showed strong nerves and also took the lead in round two. After too many mistakes, she conceded the break against Muchova to make it 1: 2. The 24-year-old had already reached the quarter-finals in Wimbledon two years ago and at the beginning of the year at the Australian Open even had her first Grand Slam semi-final.
On the way to her eighth semifinals in one of the four most important tournaments, Kerber got help again and again when Muchova picked up the pace on the basic strokes and then did not place the ball in the field. The Czech, who also appeared on the net and played stop balls, not only enabled the quick rebreak but even a 5: 2 lead and couldn’t believe that she just couldn’t get into the match. Kerber used the second match point after only 75 minutes – thanks to a mistake by Muchova.