Angelique Kerber (Kiel) and Andrea Petkovic (Darmstadt) failed in the first round of the WTA tournament in Wuhan, China.The two-time Grand Slam winner Kerber lost her opening game in the 2.666 million-denominated competition against Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia 6-3,3-6,1-6.Petkovic was defeated by Lauren Davis of America 3-6,2-6.
The 29-year-old Kerber, who made it to the semi-finals in Tokyo last week and advanced from 14th to 12th place in the world rankings on Monday, presented a very weak performance at high summer temperatures in the final set.After 1:45 hours the world rankings-20 took place.Garcia scored her second match point to win.
Petkovic, who slipped to 105th position in the WTA ranking, had to face a difficult situation in the 20th century.Season tournament already the eleventh first-round finish.After exactly one hour, 23-year-old Davis, number 38 in the world, turned her first match point.
In Wuhan on Monday Julia Görges (Bad Oldesloe) will be fighting for the second round.On Sunday, Mona Barthel (Bad Segeberg) had lost her opening match against Olympic champion Monica Puig (Puerto Rico) 0:6,7:6 (7:0), 4:6.
The tournament was also finished early for Sloane Stephens and Madison Keys (both USA).US Open winner Stephens was defeated by local heroine Wang Qiang 2:6,2:6,2:6, US Open finalist Keys lost 2:6,6:7 (4:7) against her countrywoman Varvara Lepchenko.