Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Stuttgart

Women’s Final: [CR5] Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) vs. [CR14] Angelique Kerber (GER)

Tennis is no longer a game of youth, or perhaps better said; tennis is now more than ever, a game of experience.  More and more players are reaching their potential as they age, and the recent rash of players in their late twenties and older who are playing their best tennis and winning titles is a testament of this fact.  Kerber, no stranger to the top ten, is once again finding her form and showing her steely determination. Kerber never seems to let her emotions distract her, and this allows her to play more intelligently.  At times it can give the impression that she is not fully engaged, which makes her a difficult opponent because you are never quite sure of her level of commitment.

Wozniacki could have won this match and should have won this match; yet, she did not. Is there a simple reason why she lost?  It’s easy to say she failed to be aggressive when she needed; however, it’s complex because there are always a variety of factors why a player fails to execute their game plan during a match. Perhaps at critical moments, she got too anxious; or Kerber elevated her game and Wozniacki could not; fatigue finally caught up with Wozniacki; or maybe the home court advantage played a role in the final outcome.  A single factor or a combination of factors, we will never know; however, credit Kerber who executed her plan in the end to win the match. She won the title with a 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 defeat of Wozniacki, who failed to close out the match when she had chances.