Aug 28, 2018; New York, NY, USA; Angelique Kerber of Germany serves against Margarita Gasparyan of Russia in a first round match on day two of the 2018 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
August 28, 2018
By Steve Keating
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Fourth seed Angelique Kerber showed she has fully recovered from last year’s U.S. Open hangover by disposing of Russian Margarita Gasparyan 7-6 (5) 6-3 on Tuesday to reach the second round at Flushing Meadows.
Champion in 2016, Kerber’s title defense ended almost before it began with the German suffering a 6-3 6-1 first round shellacking at the hands of Japan’s 46th ranked Naomi Osaka.
That upset provided a sobering reminder that anything can happen at a grand slam and this year Kerber made sure she would not be caught with her guard down again as she took on a player making her U.S. Open main draw debut.
A three-time Grand Slam winner against an opponent sitting at 370 in the world rankings and making her first appearance in a major in more than two years would appear a mismatch but it was a contest Kerber approached in a business-like manner.
Despite the background Gasparyan, who has a WTA Tour title on her resume, represented a potentially tricky first round opponent, returning to the circuit this season after missing 15 months recovering from a career-threatening knee injury.
The Russian showed some of her potential and a good amount of grit by battling to take Kerber to a first set tiebreak but the Wimbledon champion kept her cool on a sweltering day on Louis Armstrong Stadium court to prevail 7-5.
The 23-year-old Gasparyan refused to wave the white flag and broke Kerber to open the second set, but the German broke back immediately to slowly seize control and wrap up the match.
(Editing by Ken Ferris)
