Kerber Holds On To End Sharapova’s Wimbledon Run; Will Face Bouchard in Quarters
It wasn’t easy, but German Angelique Kerber outlasted Maria Sharapova on Tuesday, defeating the Russian 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-4 to move into the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
Kerber, the seventh-ranked player in the world, needed seven match points to close out Sharapova who battled back from 2-5 down in the final set to bring it to 4-5. The German was serving for the match before Sharapova ripped a backhander down the line to prolong the match yet again, but Kerber would close it out 5-4 to seal the victory.
Climbing uphill took its toll on Sharapova who committed 49 unforced errors while Kerber had just 11. Despite being highly ranked, Kerber’s victory over Sharapova is one of the bigger upsets at Wimbledon thus far.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Kerber. “It was such a tough match. We were playing on a really high level, and it was so close—every single set was so close. I’m just happy I won the match.”
Kerber now moves into a quarterfinal matchup with Canadian Eugenie Bouchard, who defeated France’s Alize Cornet yesterday.
Simona Halep and Sabine Lisicki also booked spots in the final eight on Tuesday, rounding out the quarterfinal matchups on the women’s side.
Halep cruised past Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas 6-3, 6-0 in less than an hour. The third-seeded Romanian used a dominating serve to pace the match, converting 84 percent of her first serves into points while smashing two aces.
Lisicki parlayed her victory over former world number one Ana Ivanovic on Monday by beating Yaroslava Shvedova 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 in her fourth-round matchup. It was an incredibly close match as the 19th-seeded German won only two more points than her opponent, eventually outlasting Shvedova in just under two hours.
Halep is 2-1 in the head-to-head series with Lisicki as the two will battle it out for a spot in the semifinals.
