Still barely hanging on to her spot as the No. 1 female tennis player in the world is Angelique Kerber, who was given a scare by 93rd-ranked Kirsten Flipkens at the All England Club.
Kerber escaped with a tense 7-5, 7-5 win, but not before her Belgian opponent put up a good fight, with Flipkens having a rather significant 37-20 edge in winners during their second-round match. But in the end, the German standout prevailed with a clutch victory, winning five of her seven break-point opportunities.
After a couple of lackluster performances in the two Grand Slam tournaments earlier this year, Kerber’s No. 1 spot in the world rankings was and remains at risk, and an early exit from England may just dethrone her at that. Then again, she’s still hot off a career-best final round appearance at Wimbledon from the previous season and has a relatively sound 20-9 lifetime record in the tournament.
Furthermore, Kerber will be given the benefit of the doubt that she can take care of business this weekend in her third-round bout against Shelby Rogers, as she had just beaten Rogers in straight sets earlier this year in Miami.
America’s very own Shelby Rogers secured yet another win across the Atlantic by pulling off an upset over World No. 28 Lucie Safarova, 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-3.
The South Carolina native matched the former French Open finalist’s power on serve, with both players tallying eight aces during their second-round match at the All England Club. The difference in favor of Rogers, though, was that she converted three of her five break-point chances, whereas Safarova went just 1-of-4 in that department and also committed eight double faults.
Rogers’ current third-round appearance in Wimbledon is a new career best at the tournament, and she’s also hot off a couple of other Grand Slam singles performance bests from this same year at the Australian Open (second round) and the French Open (third).
While Rogers’ defeat to Kerber this March at the Miami Open plays a huge factor heading into this weekend’s showdown, it’s worth noting that she pushed Wimby’s top seed to the limit – the final outcome was a narrow 6-4, 7-5 decision – and that the match was held on the hard courts, not on grass.
All things considered, however, the 24-year-old upstart’s experience still pales in comparison to Kerber’s. Rogers has yet to win a tournament in the WTA Tour’s main draw and has spent most of her 2017 competing in the WTA’s lower-tier tournaments with very little success to show for.
Writer’s Prediction
Kerber (-450) ekes out another close win over Rogers in three sets.
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