An alternate a year ago, Germany’s Angelique Kerber made her full-fledged comeback at the year-end WTA Finals this week and she made a splash in her opening round match by defeating 2011 champion Petra Kvitova on Monday 6-2, 7-6 in Singapore.
Kerber has made it in the season-ending championships for the fourth straight year – she was in the top eight in 2012 and 2013 but was an alternate a year ago. She still made the trip to Singapore.
“I’m so happy to win, Petra’s an unbelievable player and had a great year. I’m just enjoying playing here, it’s my first time here and the fans are amazing,” Kerber said. Her past matches in 2012 and 2013 were in Istanbul.
“I was trying to move well. I was actually a break down in the first few games and I was just trying to be aggressive. In the end it was very close so I just decided to go for it and I’m very happy that I got the win,” she added.
Kerber will next face number two seed Garbiñe Muguruza on Wednesday and a win could virtually guarantee her a place in the semifinals. Meanwhile, Kvitova will face fellow Czech Lucie Safarova in a bid to stay in the competition.
