Top women seeds sent packing
Print Edition
ANGELIQUE Kerber predicted that 2017 was going to have a different feel for her, considering her phenomenal breakout season last year.
It certainly started differently, with the top-ranked German losing to sixth-seeded Elina Svitolina 4-6, 6-3, 3-6 in the Brisbane International quarterfinals yesterday.
Kerber reached the final here last year and fine-tuned to precision for the Australian Open, where she beat Serena Williams to win her first grand slam title. She went on to reach the finals at Wimbledon and the Olympics before collecting a second major title by winning the US Open. She overhauled Williams for the top ranking and finished the year at No. 1.
After a first-round bye, Kerber struggled with her serve and had nine double-faults in a three-set win over Australian wildcard Ashleigh Barty in the second round. Against the No. 14-ranked Svitolina, the German left-hander cut her double-faults down to five, and had a break in the third set after winning the second. But she quickly surrendered the break and wasn’t consistent enough, finishing with 48 unforced errors against 39 winners.
The 22-year-old Ukrainian closed the gap to 5-4 in career head-to-head meetings with Kerber. In the semifinals, she will meet US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova, who advanced by beating eighth-seeded Roberta Vinci 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
French Open champion Garbine Muguruza rallied from a 1-4 deficit to beat fifth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 6-4 to set up a semifinal match against Alize Cornet, who ousted second-seeded Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 7-5.
Defending men’s champion Milos Raonic will face 14-time major champion Rafael Nadal in the last eight. The top-seeded Raonic, who had a first-round bye, had a 6-3, 6-2 win over Diego Schwartzman.
Nadal, who is coming back from months off the tour with a left wrist injury, needed only 55 minutes to finish off a 6-1, 6-1 win over Mischa Zverev.
In Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong Province, defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska lost in the quarterfinals of the Shenzhen Open yesterday, falling to Alison Riske 2-6, 6-3, 0-6 a year after beating the American in the final.
Third seed Johanna Konta fared better against Kristyna Pliskova, withstanding 15 aces from her Czech opponent to win 6-4, 6-7 (11), 6-3. Konta will next face another Czech, Katerina Siniakova, a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Nina Stojanovic. The eighth-seeded Riske will play Camila Giorgi of Italy, who beat Wang Qiang 6-0, 6-2.
In Auckland, New Zealand, the ASB Tennis Classic was shorn of the last of its big-name contenders yesterday when former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki wasted a match-winning position and lost 6-1, 3-6, 4-6 in the quarterfinals to Germany’s Julia Goerges.
The tournament had boasted the strongest field in its history when four former No. 1s — Wozniacki, Ana Ivanovic and Serena and Venus Williams — made it their principal lead-up to the first grand slam of the season, the Australian Open.
But Ivanovic withdrew before the tournament began and subsequently retired, and the Williams sisters both bowed out on Wednesday: Serena beaten by American compatriot Madison Brengle and Venus withdrawing with an arm injury.
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