#AnastasiaPotapova claimed the biggest win of her young career as she knocked out the fifth seed #AngeliqueKerber in the first match of the 2019 #RolandGarros, kicking off play on the renovated Court Philippe Chatrier in the best possible way. The Russian youngster, who is making her debut in the main draw here at the #FrenchOpen, sealed what would be one of the biggest upsets in the opening round within just an hour and 13-minutes of action.
Playing without fear and asserting her dominance across the court, Potapova blasted 28 winners en route to her one-sided victory over the hampered Kerber, who looked nowhere near her best due to a lengthy layoff caused by an ankle injury. Although both players produced 21 unforced errors each, Kerber, who was on the defensive end throughout the majority of the match, only managed to find 16 winners and was only able to win five points off her opponent’s first serve.
“I think she played good, I mean, I tried my best. I was able to practice [in] the last few days really good but it was not really a long clay-court preparation, but at the end I was happy to at least go onto the court, playing a match,” Kerber mentioned during her post-match press conference.
“It was a tough match for me, physically and mentally. But I want to thank my team for supporting me and helping me. I am so happy right now.” Potapova’s delight can certainly be seen on her face as she was grinning ever since the conclusion of the match, and this shows how much the win meant to the Russian as she later stated that Kerber was someone like an “idol” for her.
Potapova overcomes her serving struggles to take the opening set
Firing a big backhand winner, Potapova shrugged off some early nerves to grab the confident hold in the opening game. It must have been a daunting stage for the Russian, who was playing her first Roland Garros match in the biggest stadium at the tournament. Kerber, a seasoned veteran, contrastingly started off a bit slow as she played her first match in three weeks.
Devastating returns saw Potapova grabbing the initiative and surge out to an early lead, though she would lose a 2-0, 30-0 lead with unforced errors starting to overwhelm her. From there, Kerber slowly crept her way back in with some of her vintage tennis as she looked to avoid the upset alert.
An unreturnable serve helped Potapova regain her footing though Kerber displayed moments of excellence which included multiple baseline smash winners which certainly wowed the crowd who had not gotten into the mood for some high-quality tennis. The German started to struggle behind her serve as she was often taken aback by the power her younger opponent possessed — ultimately being broken thrice in the opening set.
Looked to have sealed the comfortable service hold while leading 40-0 and serving to stay in the set at 4-5, Kerber completely lost the plot as Potapova found her way back with successive winners, rattling off five consecutive points to steal the opening set 6-4 after just 37 minutes of play.
Potapova seals the huge win
Riding on her unstoppable momentum, Potapova continued to fire winners at her own will and surged out to a commanding 3-0 lead within a blink of an eye to edge closer than ever to sealing the biggest win of her career.
Facing some resistance from Kerber, who visibly is not at her best, and her own nerves, Potapova struggled behind her serves though she managed to regroup herself and dominate the baseline. A forehand into the net from the former world number one saw the 18-year-old leading by a set and a double-break with the finishing line in sight.
However, Kerber had other ideas as she stormed back with two consecutive games. Hitting five winners in the process, it was a period of hope for the German’s fans as she found life in her game by firing herself up, though that was just some short-lived joy as Potapova came firing back with a tricky hold.
Serving to stay in the match at 2-5 down, Kerber could not fight off the red-hot Potapova and ultimately gave way after 73 minutes of play, crashing out of the tournament in the opening round for the second time in three years.
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