Wimbledon 2018: After a disappointing 2017, Angelique Kerber is getting back to her best as she targets another final

A single point summed up Angelique Kerber’s enthralling match against Daria Kasatkina. It involved drives across both flanks, viciously spinning slices, Kasatkina tumbling to the floor, the Russian getting back on her feet in time, a backhand drop shot down the line, an attempted cross-court pass, and then a volleyed winner.

All this took 25 shots to complete — the longest rally of the match. And Kerber’s final shot gave the German a sixth match point opportunity. Amazingly, Kerber could not convert. Such was the entertainment on display on Centre Court in the Wimbledon quarter-final.

In a match that saw it all — mistimed efforts, accuracy in the angles, routine shots put wide, astonishing winners, desire and tenacity — it was the more experienced of the two, 30-year-old Kerber, who stayed composed for just those crucial few seconds to convert her seventh match point, eventually winning 6-3, 7-5.

At the end of four rounds of the Wimbledon Championships this year, Kerber, seeded 11th, became the highest seed left in the competition. The win against Kasatkina earned her a place in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for the second time this year — she reached the last-four at the Australian Open. More importantly, it’s an impressive return for the former World No 1, who had a miserable 2017 season.

Back in 2016, the gritty lefty beat Serena Williams to earn her first Major at the Australian Open. Later that year, she beat Williams again in the final of the US Open, but only after she lost to the American in the summit clash of Wimbledon.

It was a year that saw the German win a silver medal at the Rio Olympics and later earn the World No 1 rank.

The success, however, led to a dramatic downfall. Kerber seemed a spent force on tour. Her defensive baseline work rate was no longer a factor, and her attacking play lacked creativity. At the Slams, she finished in the fourth round while defending her crown at Melbourne, and lost to youngster Naomi Osaka in the first round of the 2017 US Open.

Rebuilding was in order, and as 2018 came by, the German had made decent progress.

“Especially on the mental side,” she had told The Guardian.

Her form on court was improving. She won the Sydney International weeks before making it to the semi-final of the Australian Open. She then went on to reach the semi-finals at Doha and Eastbourne. And now at Wimbledon, she’s become a threat yet again.

“There are no favourites anymore,” she said after the quarter-final. “We are in the semis right now. I’m not looking left or right. I’m not looking about the others. I’m really taking care about my game, about how I play on court. This is all I care actually, improving my game. I know that I have to go for it, to play more aggressively, to make winners.”

Her ability to run down balls and overall defensive work rate has been crucial in her run so far, so much so that she’s dropped a set just once in five matches.

“It’s really tough to play against her on grass,” Kasatkina said of Kerber. “Even my spin doesn’t bounce that high. For her it’s a bit easier because she really likes these balls. She’s very strong on this. Even you’re returning on the line, under her legs, she can go for a winner, it’s crazy. That’s why it’s really hard to play against her on grass.”

In Kasastkina, the German was coming up against a 21-year-old known for the eccentric and exquisite. The youngster brought both traits with her on court, sparring against Kerber in what was a topsy-turvy encounter despite a straightforward scoreline.

In the second set, there were five breaks of serve till Kerber held on in that remarkable final game. Serving for the match for the second time at 6-5 (Kerber earlier had a chance to serve out the match at 5-4), the game went on for 16 points of which five had rallies that went into double digits.

“My head was just empty,” Kasatkina, the 14th seed, said of that final game. “I didn’t feel any pressure, any fear. I was just going on the next point and playing, playing, playing. I mean, almost every match point, it was something like crazy things I was doing, yeah. That’s it. I think this is the key to win the big matches: just don’t put anything in your head, to play with an empty head.”

The youngster played the entire match with that free spirit. But when she needed it the most, she lacked the composure to keep the ball in play. While she hit 33 winners (some blinders), she was guilty of 31 unforced errors. Kerber’s tally had 16 winners to 14 unforced errors. But there was still enough pressure on the German to close out the set that she needed a seventh match point opportunity to secure a spot in the semi-finals. Kerber finally ended the drama when her attacking forehand down the line drew a meek response from on-the-run Kasatkina; the Russian drove it straight into the net.

“It’s not so easy because you feel your nerves,” Kerber said. “You feel you get a little bit tight, especially if you have your third or fourth match point again.”

After a horrid 2017, Kerber is getting back to her solid best. A repeat of the 2016 final is in the offing for the German, as Williams takes on 13th seed Julia Gorges in the other semi-final. Up next for Kerber is Ostapenko, another 21-year-old with a swashbuckling game.