World No.1 Angelique Kerber has been knocked out of the Hong Kong Open following a 6-3, 6-1, loss to Australia’s Daria Gavrilova.
The top seed posed little threat against the Russian-born 22-year-old, who successfully converted six out of her eight break point opportunities. Despite the seemingly one-sided scoreline, Kerber did have her own chances to come back in the match. The Australian and US Open champion had ten chances to break Gavrilova, but could only triumphed on two occasions.
“I know how she’s playing. I unfortunately wasn’t playing my best tennis,” said the 28-year-old. “I just can say that I was not playing my best.”
Since winning her second grand slam title in New York and claiming the world No.1 ranking Kerber has failed to reach the last four at three consecutive tournaments in Asia. Prior to Hong Kong, she lost to Petra Kvitova in Wuhan and Elina Svitolina in Beijing.
Addressing her latest defeat, the world No.1 has hinted that she is currently struggling with a shoulder problem, however she remained quiet about the severity of it. Earlier this year at the French Open Kerber experienced problems with her left shoulder as she went out in the first round to Kiki Bertens.
“I felt the shoulder but it’s not an excuse. I was not serving my best. I had a lot more double-faults than is normal for my game.” She said about the problem in Hong Kong.
The next test for Kerber will be later this month at the WTA Finals in Singapore, where the eight best players in the world will play each other in a round robin format. It will be her fourth appearance in the event as she bids to progress beyond the group stages for the first time.
Claiming her first ever win over the world No.1, Gavrilova will now play in her first WTA semi-final since the 2015 Rome Open. The breakthrough comes a week after she reached the last eight of the China Open, a Premier tournament. Throughout the Asian swing, the Australian has sought the assistance of coach Biljana Veselinovic, who has previously worked with players such as Alize Cornet and Lucie Safarova.
In the next round Gavrilova will play France’s Kristina Mladenovic, who battled her way past Bethanie Mattek-Sands 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3). Earlier this year at the Australian Open Gavrilova edged out Mladenovic in a three-set epic, winning the decider 11-9.
