Angelique Kerber’s preparation for next week’s Australian Open has suffered another setback after she was knocked out 7-6(2), 6-2, by Daria Kasatkina in the second round at the Sydney International.
The world No.1 was far from the form which took her to two grand slam titles last year. Struggling to find rhythm in her game, the German produced a costly 41 unforced errors as she was broken five times by the Russian teenager during the 90-minute match.
“I think I will sit down with my team now and discuss what to do next,” Kerber said about her lacklustre performance.
Kerber entered the Sydney event in search of a confidence boost following a tentative start to her season. Last week she crashed out at the Brisbane International, losing to Elina Svitolina in the quarter-finals. Reflecting on her recent woes on the tour, the 28-year-old is maintaining a positive outlook.
“The first matches of the year are always tough, and I’m still not feeling my rhythm. I made too many mistakes. I was not feeling the ball.” She said.
“It’s tough, but I think it was still good to have a match before going to Melbourne.”
Kaskatkina’s win over Kerber has further cemented her rising star status. It is the first time that the Russian 19-year-old has defeated a top 5 player. Last week she took French Open champion Garbine Muguruza to three close sets before being edged out in a decisive tiebreaker.
“It’s difficult to explain really. I beat the number one in the world and it doesn’t happen every day,” she said during her courtside interview.
Currently ranked 26th in the world, the former French Open girls champion is bidding to win her maiden WTA title in Sydney. Awaiting her in the quarter-finals will be Great Britain’s Johanna Konta. The sixth seed downed Daria Gavrilova 6-3, 6-1, in what was a testing encounter. Konta had 20 break point opportunities in the match, but only successfully converted four of them.
‘I knew going into the match it was going to be an incredibly tough one, she’s one of the best fighters on tour,’ Konta said during an interview with BT Sport.
‘It’s such a strong tournament, such depth, I know going into every single match that it’s going to be a tough one and I’m just going to have to, first and foremost, take care of things my end,’ She added.
Third seed Dominika Cibulkova was another high profile casualty of the tournament, falling 6-4, 6-3, to Eugenie Bouchard. Struggling to tame her Canadian opponent, she was broken five times in the match.
Bouchard, a former Wimbledon finalist, will now play in her first WTA quarter-final since Kuala Lumpur last March. Crediting the breakthrough to a reunion with her former coach Thomas Hogstedt, the confident 22-year-old believes she can become even better.
“I have taken a couple of solid steps this week, but I’m far from where I want to be. Even though I won, to me, I could do a lot of things better.” Said Bouchard.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will be the next test for Bouchard in the last eight. The Russian defeated compatriot Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 6-3.
