Kerber pulls off Sharapova stunner
Print Edition
FORMER champion Maria Sharapova saved six match points before falling to Angelique Kerber in the fourth round at Wimbledon yesterday, ending her bid to win a second title at the All England Club in London a decade after her first.
Sharapova, a five-time major champion, saved one match point at 2-5 in the third set and five more in the final game before hitting a backhand long on the seventh.
That gave the ninth-seeded Kerber a stirring 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4 win on Centre Court. The German reached the semifinals at Wimbledon two years ago.
Sharapova had lost only seven games in her three previous matches, but she had 49 unforced errors to Kerber’s 11.
Earlier, Roger Federer’s immaculate Wimbledon continued as he moved smoothly into the quarterfinals for the 12th time in his career by outclassing Tommy Robredo.
The Swiss, bidding for a record eighth title at the grassscourt slam, needed only one hour 34 minutes of sublime tennis to win 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 and avenge a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Spaniard at last year’s US Open.
All eyes have been on defending champion Andy Murray’s regal progress through the draw so far this year but Federer again issued a reminder that, when his game is flowing there are few better sights in world sport.
Sunshine ushered in day eight of the championships and organizers sought to re-calibrate the men’s and women’s singles draws on a day usually reserved for the women’s last eight.
Last year’s runner-up Sabine Lisicki, a round behind after having to finish off third-round opponent Ana Ivanovic on Monday, survived a shoulder injury scare to beat Kazakh Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
The German 19th seed took a medical time-out in the middle of a game at 1-1 in the decider, having her shoulder massaged while lying on the turf, but recovered to reach the quarterfinal for the fifth time in five visits.
Romania’s “Miss Consistency” Simona Halep raced to a 6-3, 6-0 fourth-round win over Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas as she maintained her dazzling from in this year’s slams. The Wimbledon third seed reached the French Open final earlier this month and began the year with a quarterfinal run at the Australian Open.
Lisicki said she hoped her shoulder would be in good enough shape to face Halep in today’s quarterfinals.
Federer will also be back on court today with a quarterfinal against fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka.
Wawrinka beat a bad-tempered Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (5), 7-6 (7), 6-3 yesterday.
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