Brilliant Bertens steering closer to the top 10
Kiki Bertens is continuing her success after lifting the trophy in Charleston at the Volvo Car Open. The Dutchwoman has climbed fourteen places since Charleston by capturing the biggest title of her career in Cincinnati at the Western & Southern Open. Impressively, Bertens has had to save match points in both her titles this year.
Many people aren’t familiar with Bertens record on grass and hard-court surfaces. Bertens is a powerful player with explosive groundstrokes and although her game sounds perfect for these fast-paced surfaces, in the past she has seen most of her success on clay. In fact before this year’s grass and hard court season, all five of her WTA titles had been on clay and her best result in a Grand Slam was a semifinal run at the 2016 French Open. Surprisingly, Bertens had never made a final on either grass or hard-court surfaces, and her record was 0-11 against top ten players.
However, this season Bertens is displaying why she is a contender for the US Open title. She made the quarterfinals in Wimbledon by knocking out two top ten players. She also continued her success in the US Open Series by eliminating two top ten players, for the first time on hardcourts, at the Rogers Cup to reach the quarterfinals.
The following week, Bertens displayed her brilliance by winning her biggest title of her career in Cincinnati. By utilizing great court coverage and aggressive shot variability she was able to beat world No. 1, Simona Halep, in the finals after saving a match point. En route to lifting the trophy she also had victories over top ten players Caroline Wozniacki, Elina Svitolina and Petra Kvitova.
Additionally, Bertens has had eight victories over top 10 players this grass and hard-court season.
With her success in Cincinnati, she has moved to a career high of 13. What will the brilliant Bertens bring to the Big Apple?
Time will tell! Stay tuned in.
Photo credit: Jimmie48
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