By upsetting fellow German Angelique Kerber 6-1 6-2 in the second round of the $2,369,000 Qatar Total Open, Mona Barthel not only defeated a sixth-ranked player for the first time, but she also recorded her 14th win of the season, tying Li Na for most match wins this year. Agnieszka Radwanska could join Barthel and Li on the top soon, if she beats Anastasia Rodionova today.
Kerber won the opening games of both sets, but after the initial break to start the match, Kerber won just one of the next ten games, missing aggression and falling to Barthel’s 30 winners to 12 unforced errors in just one minute over an hour.
It is Barthel’s third Top 10 victory in just two weeks, having beaten No.10 Marion Bartoli and No.7 Sara Errani en route to the Paris title. Her next opponent in Doha will be either tenth seed Caroline Wozniacki or Sorana Cirstea. (photo: janmci, stats via Moo’s Tennis Blog)
A very solid performance by Mona, but Kerber was just not at the races. She is becoming more and more defensive these days and her 2nd serve was Errani-esque. I think she shouldn’t have played Doha and rested her back injury.
Kerber just played to avoid a fine. Next up it’s Caro vs Mona. Now,that will be an interesting match! Mona was in the crowd today together with her mum who is her coach.