New Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber crashed out of the Qatar Open on Tuesday, in her first singles tournament since winning in Melbourne last month.
An out-of-sorts Kerber lost her second round match — she received a first-round bye — in straight sets 7-5, 6-1 to China’s Zheng Saisai, who is ranked 71 places below the world No. 2.
In a lackluster performance, the German lost her serve six times, hit 38 unforced errors — Saisai hit only eight — and was beaten in just 1 hour and 18 minutes as her opponent dominated.
Photo: EPA
The second set took just 28 minutes as Kerber’s game collapsed.
Kerber, who has not played any singles tournaments since beating Serena Williams in Melbourne on Jan. 30, grew increasingly exasperated with her form on a blustery night in Doha and at one point could be heard telling her coach Torben Beltz that she was tired and had no energy.
The Poland-based German said she did not know if her poor performance was down to a lack of match fitness or not being able to respond to the new pressure of being a Grand Slam champion.
“I do not know if it was the pressure or not. I know, of course, pressures from the last years, but maybe it was both,” she said. “I mean, I was feeling this morning also not good when I was practicing. This is actually what I can say, I do not know how many mistakes I did today. This is not my game, to make so many mistakes. I was trying to go for it. I think it was more like I was not feeling my game and not finding my rhythm.”
A delighted Saisai is scheduled to play Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard in the third round.
Bouchard beat the Czech Republic’s Denisa Allertova 7-6 (7-0), 7-5 as she continues her recovery from a traumatic end to last year.
Buchard, who confirmed she is still pursuing legal action against the US Tennis Association after she slipped and fell down in a locker room during the US Open in September last year, said she was just happy to be playing tennis again after several months out.
“I cannot complain even if I play terrible, I am so happy to be back on tour,” she said. “I am really grateful. I really realized how much I missed and loved tennis when I was forced out because of my injury at the end of 2015.”
Earlier on Tuesday, the tournament’s third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska won 6-4, 6-4 against Kateryna Bondarenko from Ukraine.
“Obviously it was hard conditions, but I won,” Radwanska said afterwards. “That is the most important thing. The first matches are always very tricky, especially the different conditions everywhere, and here in Doha as well. We are used to it [being] always a bit windy and it can be very tough.”
Also through is Petra Kvitova who won 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 against Czech compatriot Barbora Strycova.
Second-seeded Simona Halep, the 2014 champion in Doha, was in action later on Tuesday against Russia’s Elena Vesnina.
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