MELBOURNE, Australia — Angelique Kerber earned a trip to her maiden grand slam final with a straight-sets win over Johanna Konta in the Australian Open semifinals Thursday.
The German No. 7 seed, in her third major semifinal, claimed a 7-5, 6-2 victory against Konta at Rod Laver Arena.
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Kerber will meet world No. 1 Serena Williams in Saturday's final. Williams turned in a brilliant display in a win over Agnieszka Radwanska earlier in the day.
Konta was mistake-prone in her first slam semi, committing 36 unforced errors, some in key moments. The 28-year-old Kerber took advantage when Konta missed her first serve, winning 13 of the 21 points on her second.
Konta struggled to impose herself early, but came back from 3-0 down to win four consecutive games. Just as Konta appeared to gain the upper hand, she made errors off both sides, and served a double fault to give up serve in the 11th game.
A slight rain delay did not rattle Kerber, who served out the set to love. Kerber started the second set with an overhead smash in the opening game.
STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN
Angelique Kerber (7) def. Johanna Konta 7-5, 6-2
ACES
Kerber — 1
Konta — 2
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Kerber — 14/11
Konta — 18/36
BREAK POINTS WON
Kerber — 5/12
Konta — 2/5
FIRST SERVE PERCENTAGE
Kerber — 54
Konta — 64
PERCENTAGE OF POINTS WON ON FIRST/SECOND SERVE
Kerber — 64/68
Konta — 59/38
TOTAL POINTS
Kerber — 68
Konta — 51