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Kerber reaches final as Ostapenko self-destructs

Angelique Kerber of Germany returns against Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia during their Ladies' Singles semi-final match on day ten of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 12, 2018 in London, England.
Angelique Kerber of Germany returns against Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia during their Ladies' Singles semi-final match on day ten of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Championships at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on July 12, 2018 in London, England.
Image: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Germany’s Angelique Kerber proved too solid for error-strewn Latvian Jelena Ostapenko as she reached her second Wimbledon final with a 6-3 6-3 victory on Thursday.

The 30-year-old was gifted point after point as Ostapenko’s aggressive game backfired in a blaze of unforced errors.

A tight tussle looked in store at 3-3 in the first set but when Ostapenko fired a forehand long to drop serve the match quickly ran away from her.

She double-faulted on set point and Kerber, who served well and defended superbly when required to fend off Ostapenko’s sporadic attacks, accelerated into a 5-1 lead.

Ostapenko suddenly began to land some big blows, clawing back a couple of games and had a point to narrow the deficit to a single game as Kerber showed late nerves.

But Kerber nipped the recovery in the bud and booked a Saturday date back on Centre Court when Ostapenko rammed a forehand wide.

She will face either seven-times champion Serena Williams or fellow German Julia Georges in the final.

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