Angelique Kerber has missed out on the quarter-finals of the Premier Mandatory tournament in Beijing. The Wimbledon winner lost to the Chinese Zhang Shuai with 1:6, 6:2, 0:6.
After 1:27 hours Shuai made the surprise perfect when Kerber lost a return for the Chinese at the first match point. The number 45 of the world will now meet US Open Champion mare Naomi Osaka (Japan/No. 8) on Friday, who had not given the tenth seeded Julia Görges a chance at 6:1, 6:2. Hopes for a German duel were thus dashed early on.
Shuai took the initiative at the beginning, acted aggressively from the baseline – and almost flawlessly. The local heroine quickly took the lead 3-0, before Kerber could take her first game. A little later, however, the third in the world rankings conceded their second break, from which they initially failed to recover. With an ace Shuai won the first run after only 23 minutes.
But Kerber caught himself and became more powerful after a speech by her coach Wim Fissette. The left-handed player then used her second break ball in the Beijing cauldron to set a 2-0 lead. She now set the pace on Centre Court at the National Tennis Stadium and equalised the sets when she succeeded with a forehand volley.
Fissette then told her at the on-court coaching: “You’re playing good tennis now, stick with your thoughts on this positive tennis, I’ve seen so many good things. Mistakes are part of it, bad points we’ll forget soon.”
However, Kerber could not make use of the momentum. Shuai took her serve in the opening game of the deciding set, brought her service to zero and produced many winners. After a double mistake of the Kielerin it stood fast 0:3. Shuai played himself, cheered on by the loud audience, into a true intoxication.
Kerber, who won only seven points in the third run, was physically stricken in the final phase.