Angelique Kerber’s 2016 Wimbledon campaign is off to a fiery start. She beat British wildcard Laura Robson in the first round, 6-2, 6-2, to book a ticket into the second phase of the tournament. Now she’s set to meet another familiar foe in the form of Varvara Lepchenko, who also came through against her own opener against Teliana Pereira.
Read on below for a closer look at this showdown. And while you’re at it, you can also check out the action over at the men’s side with our preview of the second-round bout between Novak Djokovic and Adrian Mannarino.
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Angelique Kerber better be ready for a dogfight. After all, she’ll be taking on an opponent—Varvara Lepchenko—who has bested her four times across a total of seven head-to-head matches. But it’s worth noting that the fourth-seeded German won the last two meetings, which both occurred back in 2014 at Roland Garros and Stanford, respectively.
Still, Kerber can’t let those previous victories make her even a bit complacent. Lepchenko’s bound to have improved considerably since then, and is forever dangerous in any event. Hence, the reigning Australian Open champion needs to find it within herself to replicate or outdo her performance in the first round versus Laura Robson.
During that encounter, Kerber was flat-out phenomenal. She won 86 percent of her first serve points, converted 81 percent of her second serve points and punched in 15 winners. More importantly, the 28-year-old star also committed just seven unforced errors throughout the entire match.
Kerber, who is solidly priced at +1,800 to win this week’s tournament, has lost four of her last seven matches overall.
After dropping her Wimbledon opener last year, Varvara Lepchenko almost suffered the same fate during Monday’s first-round date with Teliana Pereira.
Lepchenko dropped the first set to the feisty Brazilian, but still managed to eventually power her way towards a come-from-behind win, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-2. The World No. 64’s brute strength and efficiency was exhibited in that match, as she finished with a total of five aces, 37 winners and won almost 70 percent of her first serve points.
Moreover, Lepchenko’s aggressiveness and killer instinct came into play in that victory as well. She converted five of her 11 break points and capitalized on most of her drives towards the net (73 percent).
However, Lepchenko will likely need to make a handful of adjustments to her style of play. In particular, she might have to be a little less aggressive and make smarter in-game decisions to ultimately avoid committing too much mistakes. The American veteran compiled 41 unforced errors in her first-round duel with Pereira.
Lepchenko has split her last 10 matches overall.
Writer’s Prediction
Lepchenko (+600) gets the upset after three tightly-contested sets.
