Angelique Kerber yesterday crashed out of Wimbledon and lost her hold on the world No. 1 ranking, while five-time champion Venus Williams became the oldest All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club quarter-finalist in 23 years.
Kerber was beaten 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 by Spanish 14th seed Garbine Muguruza as the German’s fourth-round exit extended a miserable run for last year’s runner-up.
The 29-year-old, who lost to Serena Williams in the final 12 months ago, has failed to make the last eight at any of this year’s three Grand Slams.
Photo: AFP
Kerber had taken the top ranking from Serena Williams in March, but her Wimbledon defeat leaves her with a dismal 0-9 record against top-20 opponents this year.
Muguruza, the 2015 Wimbledon runner-up, goes on to play Russian seventh seed Svetlana Kuznetsova for a place in the semi-finals.
With only two women’s matches scheduled for Wimbledon’s two show courts yesterday, Kerber was exiled to Court 2.
It was a decision that brought criticism for Wimbledon chiefs and Kerber was visibly frustrated by the state of surface after she slipped on several barren patches of grass on the baseline.
Despite her complaints, Kerber managed to take the first set, but Muguruza hit her stride as she took the second.
Kerber twice led by a break in the final set, but could not close out the victory as Muguruza showed she has been absorbing the lessons of coach Conchita Martinez, the only Spanish woman to win Wimbledon.
Granted show-court billing, Venus Williams did not hang around as she crushed 19-year-old Croatian Ana Konjuh 6-3, 6-2 in 64 minutes on Centre Court.
Williams made her Grand Slam debut at the 1997 French Open, seven months before Konjuh was born, and at 37 years and 29 days, she is Wimbledon’s oldest female quarter-finalist since Martina Navratilova in 1994.
Williams plays French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, who advanced after finally converting her eighth match point to defeat Elina Svitolina 6-3, 7-6 (8/6).
Kuznetsova reached her first Wimbledon quarter-final in 10 years with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Polish ninth seed Agnieszka Radwanska.
Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova is also into her maiden Grand Slam quarter-final after a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 win over Croatian qualifier Petra Martic.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
Thanks to Italy beating Mexico on Wednesday, the US get another chance in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). What looked like a potentially disastrous early exit for US manager Mark DeRosa and his team turned out to be nothing more than substantial worry and significant embarrassment for about 24 hours. It remains to be seen whether the US really want to win badly enough for the reprieve to matter, as if it is just a switch they can flick, but there is little reason for their fans to be optimistic. The team’s attitude and behavior have been all over the place when
RSS