Top seed and World No.1 Angelique Kerber has crashed out of the Brisbane WTA event, losing to sixth seed Elina Svitolina 64 36 63 in just short of two hours.
This time last season Angelique Kerber dominated the WTA tour and the Grand Slams, reaching the final in Brisbane before rising to the occasion in Melbourne, defeating Serena Williams for the Australian Open title.
She has however, not been able to mirror her first result of 2016 this year, as Svitolina produced an excellent display to thwart the German at the quarter-final stage. The win ensured that Svitolina gained revenge for a defeat to Kerber at the same event last season.
Despite a ranking gap with Kerber ranked No.1 and Svitolina No.14 some may have predicted a shock. Svitolina has always given Kerber trouble in their previous match-ups, and this result brings the head-to-head to a very close 5-4 in Kerber’s favour.
Svitolina dominated Kerber in the first set, breaking twice and incredibly winning more than half the points against her opponent’s first serve. Kerber’s determined retrieving skills kept things close by earning her own break, but the the Ukrainian held firm to take the opening set.
Kerber’s serve, often considered one of her weaknesses, particularly her second serve, remained unconvincing in the second, losing 56% of her second serve points. However, her first serve percentage picked up dramatically and she broke Svitolina twice, holding the sixth seed to just one break to level the match.
Kerber’s issues returned in the decider though, struggling with both her first and second serves. In a repeat of the first set Svitolina broke twice, and Kerber just the once.
The win for Svitolina ensures her progress into the semi-finals, where she will meet Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic after the third seed edged Roberta Vinci 36 62 62 in an hour and fifty-one minutes.
Garbine Mugurza defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 75 64 to reach the semi-finals in the bottom half of the draw, and she will face surprise semi-finalist Alize Cornet, after the Frenchwoman scored a massive over second seed and World No.5 Dominika Cibulkova, 63 75.
This year’s event is wide open as last year’s winner Victoria Azarenka is not present, beaten finalist Angelique Kerber is out, and the second seed is now out. The favourite now is perhaps Garbine Muguruza, as the Spanish French Open champions remains in the bottom half of the draw with the unseeded Alize Cornet her next opponent.
