Bertens' marathon Sunday in Charleston bodes well for Roland Garros

Rain wreaked havoc on the Volvo Car Open's Saturday schedule, pushing the majority of semifinal action to Sunday. Facing the prospect of playing back-to-back matches for the title, it was Kiki Bertens who rose to the challenge, coming away from Charleston with the biggest title of her career.

While most of Julia Goerges’ semifinal match against Anastasija Sevastova was rescheduled—it was stopped at 4-all first set—the entirety of Bertens’ semifinal against Madison Keys was pushed to Sunday, and it was a marathon. For two hours and 43 minutes, the two slugged it out on the green clay. And after surviving match point while down 5-4 in the third set, Bertens escaped, 6-4, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (5).

“I got a little bit nervous closing it out in the second set,” Bertens would say afterwards.

“But I just kept on going, kept on fighting, even when I was match point down.”

Goerges, meanwhile, completed a 7-6 (5), 6-3 win over Sevastova to join Bertens in the final.

The two had played just once before, with Bertens edging Goerges in a third set tie-break at another clay court event, in Nurnberg, in 2016, but their second meeting couldn’t have been more different.

The No. 12-seeded Bertens cruised past the No. 5-seeded Goerges in 58 minutes, 6-2, 6-1.

“Julia didn’t play her best, but still, I was just trying to play aggressive where I could, just to hit some balls in the court when she was playing and making some errors,” Bertens said after the final.

“She’s a hell of a player,” Goerges said. “If I have to lose to a player, I’m happy to lose to her today.”

Match Point:

Bertens came away from Charleston with the first Premier-level title of her career.

“It’s just unbelievable,” she said. “I cannot really realize it yet, but I’m just so happy and proud of myself. It’s a great start to the clay court season, and hopefully there’s still more to come.”

The Dutchwoman could be a big threat at Roland Garros this year. Not only have all five of her career WTA titles come on clay, but the best Grand Slam result of her career did as well—she made the semifinals of the French Open in 2016. All three of her career Top 10 wins have come on clay, too.

“I know I can play well on clay,” she added, “but this was just a great feeling.”

The doubles final was also among a jam-packed Sunday schedule, with Alla Kudryavtseva and Katarina Srebotnik beating Andreja Klepac and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez for the title, 6-3, 6-3.

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