LONDON (Reuters) – Former Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber of Germany put in a strong show to beat an error-prone Karolina Muchova 6-2 6-3 on Tuesday to reach the semi-finals of the grasscourt Grand Slam.
The 2018 champion, seeded 25th at the All England Club this year, arrived for the contest having defeated Czech Muchova both times in their two meetings in two weeks in 2019 and never lost control of the match under the closed roof of Court One.
Former No.1 Kerber, who also won the Australian Open and the U.S. Open in 2016, used her forehand immaculately against 19th seed Muchova and also mixed her drop shots expertly to set up chances for winners.
Muchova, who had her left thigh strapped, did not help her cause by committing 27 unforced errors against the nine winners she managed during the 75-minute contest.
The 19th-seeded Czech was also guilty of failing to take her chances, managing to convert only one of the eight break-point opportunities she had on the left-hander’s serve.
The 33-year-old Kerber, who arrived at Wimbledon with a title from Bad Homburg in the lead-up and is the only former champion left in the draw, broke Muchova twice in each set.
The German sealed the contest when Muchova sent a forehand long on her second match point.
Kerber will meet the winner of the all-Australian clash between top-ranked Ash Barty and unseeded Ajla Tomljanovic for a place in Saturday’s final.
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly; editing by Ken Ferris)
