Svitolina beats Kerber in Beijing for second victory over a world No.1 this season

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Wilson Blade 9

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After beating long-time world No.1 Serena Williams at the Rio Olympics, today Elina Svitolina upset still fresh No.1 Angelique Kerber in the third round of the China Open.

In the 45-minute first set, the 19th-ranked Svitolina saved as much as nine of ten break points, six of which happened in a topsy-turvy ninth game, while Kerber saved none of the two she faced.

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In the second set, seed No.16 Svitolina rallied from an early loss of serve and the aggressive game helped her record two more breaks to stun Kerber 6-3 7-5. In the quarterfinals, the 22-year-old Ukrainian will face Australian Daria Gavrilova, who beat Caroline Garcia of France 6-4 6-3.

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Germany’s Kerber is feeling the strain of a busy schedule in the season which saw her win two Grand Slam titles and claim the No.1 ranking. After her US Open triumph, the German lost to highly-inspired Petra Kvitova in a third-round epic at the Dongfeng Motor Wuhan Open, and now to Svitolina, who had already claimed one No.1 scalp this year, so the losses are far from low-profile.

 

1 COMMENT

  1. Svitolina played fantastic and she’s flying all over the court, but kerber also played fine. Must say that was a nice competition & alot of entainment for the tennis players.

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