This content was published 7 years ago. It may refer to a past edition of the Internazionali d’Italia.
Estonian qualifier Anett Kontaveit produced the best performance of her career to defeat world No. 1 Angelique Kerber 64 60 in the second round at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
The world No. 68 won 10 games in a row from 2-4 down in the opening set to record the second Top 10 victory of her career and continue her standout season.
“My first time beating the No. 1 in the world, so, you know, I’m super excited,” said Kontaveit. “As soon as I got here, I was feeling great. This place is amazing. I love the courts. I love the atmosphere here. There are so many people watching. It does feel a little bit special to a player.”
Kontaveit has come of age in 2017 and has already reached her first WTA singles final in Biel and recorded a quarterfinal finish in Stuttgart, where she defeated world No. 6 Garbine Muguruza in the second round.
While Kontaveit is enjoying a successful season, Kerber has been struggling to find her form this year and this latest defeat will be another dent in the German’s confidence.
“I think that my movement is not the best, especially on clay,” said Kerber. “I think my legs are always important for my game, but I really not feeling so good on clay court. But, yeah, right now I have — yeah, I will try to going back home and thinking what can I do to be back in Paris. I mean, this is the next big goal.”
Kontaviet will play No. 16 seed Mirjana Lucic-Baroni, who advanced when Maria Sharpova was forced to retire with a left thigh injury on Tuesday night, in the third round.
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