In the midst of what can be considered a relatively disappointing season for Julia Goerges, the German found some of her best tennis in Flushing Meadows as she stunned good friend and 7th seed Kiki Bertens to reach the second week of a Major for the first time this year. This was also her first top-10 win of the year as the 26th seed will now battle Donna Vekic for a place in the quarterfinals of the US Open.
It was a clash of similar playing styles though their performances were on opposite ends of the spectrum. Goerges was painting the lines with her dominating baseline game while Bertens could barely find any first serves, serving at 39 per cent and winning just 30 per cent of her second serve points. This could well be Bertens’ worst serving performance of her otherwise fantastic year, though she struggled at the Grand Slams.
Goerges capitalizes on her blistering start
Goerges found the perfect start into the match as four big serves saw her holding to love in the opening game, applying some pressure on her higher-ranked opponent. Bertens was struggling with her serves early on, serving two double-faults to be broken in her first service game. It was notable considering the Dutchwoman was impressive in her opening matches but seemed to be struggling with the conditions today.
Nonetheless, Bertens finally got onto the scoreboard with an immediate break back only for Goerges to regain the lead with a wonderful forehand winner. The German was able to find her first serves more consistently and played with more poise as she became the clear aggressor in the match-up, storming towards a 4-1 lead within a blink of an eye.
Bertens finally seemed to have found life in her game, narrowing the deficit before owning two break points to return on serve. Goerges was clinical during the clutch moments, sealing the huge service game which will ultimately decide the winner of the frame. Bertens, looking helpless on the court, was broken for the third time to concede the set 2-6.
Goerges seals the one-sided win
It was a tight start into the second set, although there were times at which a comeback from Bertens looked entirely plausible. After several confidence-boosting holds, she had a small chance at 0-30 in the fourth game, only for Goerges to blast her way back to level the scores with some screaming winners.
Several loose errors from Bertens depicted how the match went, with the 7th seed unable to find her range throughout the entire encounter. Goerges grew with confidence and consolidated the break for a commanding 5-2 lead, putting herself in an advantageous position to close out the win.
Nerves paralyzed the German 26th seed as she committed a flux of unforced errors to waste a total of four match points, though she finally managed to find her vintage forehand to seal the deal, taking the dominant 6-2, 6-3 win over the 7th seed after just an hour and 17 minutes of play.