AP, Charleston :
Angelique Kerber felt the same old, rhythm as last year at the Volvo Car Open. Venus Williams wished that she did, too, instead of bowing out of the tournament Thursday.
The top-seeded Kerber, the defending champion, advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Slovakia’s Kristina Kucova. Williams looked like she would join the reigning Australian Open champion, up 2-1 in the third set of her match. But instead, Yulia Putintseva won five of the final seven games to oust the 35-year-old American 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-4.
Kerber will face Irina-Camelia Begu on Friday while Putintseva will face fifth-seeded Sara Errani, a 6-4, 7-6 (5) winner over No. 10 seed Samatha Stosur. Begu topped Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (4).
No. 7 seed Sloane Stephens, the lone American left, will take on 14th-seeded Daria Kasatkina of Russia. Stephens defeated 12th-seeded Daria Gavrilova of Australia 6-4, 6-3 while Kasatkina topped U.S. wild-card entrant Louisa Chirico, 6-0, 6-4.
The last match Friday pits Russian qualifier Elena Vesnina against Laura Siegemund of Germany. Vesnina beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain 6-1, 6-3 while Siegemund topped Mirijana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia 7-5, 6-2.
Kerber needed a third-set tiebreaker to move on in her first match on Tuesday night, saying many of her errors came from making the transition from hard courts to the first clay event of the season. Kerber seemed to adjust quickly this time out against Kucova.
Kerber continued to gain confidence in the season’s first clay-court tournament. She needed a third-set tiebreaker to win her opening match on Tuesday night. This time, Kerber relied on her steady groundstrokes and relentless returns to knock off Kucova.
Kerber broke her opponents’ serve seven times and said she began to the feel the excitement here she did a year ago when she captured the title.
“I think the feeling is coming back like I had last year because right now, I’m feeling much better on clay again,” she said.
Williams also overcame some issues after dropping a first-set tiebreaker and rallying to move in front of Putintseva, who was 0-3 all-time against the U.S. great.
Angelique Kerber felt the same old, rhythm as last year at the Volvo Car Open. Venus Williams wished that she did, too, instead of bowing out of the tournament Thursday.
The top-seeded Kerber, the defending champion, advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Slovakia’s Kristina Kucova. Williams looked like she would join the reigning Australian Open champion, up 2-1 in the third set of her match. But instead, Yulia Putintseva won five of the final seven games to oust the 35-year-old American 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-4.
Kerber will face Irina-Camelia Begu on Friday while Putintseva will face fifth-seeded Sara Errani, a 6-4, 7-6 (5) winner over No. 10 seed Samatha Stosur. Begu topped Puerto Rico’s Monica Puig 6-1, 2-6, 7-6 (4).
No. 7 seed Sloane Stephens, the lone American left, will take on 14th-seeded Daria Kasatkina of Russia. Stephens defeated 12th-seeded Daria Gavrilova of Australia 6-4, 6-3 while Kasatkina topped U.S. wild-card entrant Louisa Chirico, 6-0, 6-4.
The last match Friday pits Russian qualifier Elena Vesnina against Laura Siegemund of Germany. Vesnina beat Lourdes Dominguez Lino of Spain 6-1, 6-3 while Siegemund topped Mirijana Lucic-Baroni of Croatia 7-5, 6-2.
Kerber needed a third-set tiebreaker to move on in her first match on Tuesday night, saying many of her errors came from making the transition from hard courts to the first clay event of the season. Kerber seemed to adjust quickly this time out against Kucova.
Kerber continued to gain confidence in the season’s first clay-court tournament. She needed a third-set tiebreaker to win her opening match on Tuesday night. This time, Kerber relied on her steady groundstrokes and relentless returns to knock off Kucova.
Kerber broke her opponents’ serve seven times and said she began to the feel the excitement here she did a year ago when she captured the title.
“I think the feeling is coming back like I had last year because right now, I’m feeling much better on clay again,” she said.
Williams also overcame some issues after dropping a first-set tiebreaker and rallying to move in front of Putintseva, who was 0-3 all-time against the U.S. great.
