Defending champion Angelique Kerber and Sabine Lisicki missed the semi-finals of the grass tournament in Bad Homburg.
The former world number one Kerber lost to the strong French Alize Cornet 4: 6, 6: 2, 1: 6, the former Wimbledon finalist Lisicki lost to Cornet’s compatriot Caroline Garcia 3: 6, 6: 7 (7: 9). Previously, Lisicki, who is fighting to join the top of the world after a long period of suffering, had won her first two WTA matches in the spa town after a month-long injury break.
As a result, she climbs around 300 places in the world rankings – from 804th towards the top 500 players. In Bad Homburg, Lisicki, who suffered a serious knee injury in autumn 2020, started with a wild card.
Meanwhile, Kerber from Kiel fought with all his might against the impending defeat. In the third set, however, the 34-year-old conceded an early break to make it 2-0 and was unable to catch up. Cornet converted her second match point after 1:54 hours and now meets Garcia.
Kerber is ranked 15th in Wimbledon (from June 27th), in 2018 she won the tournament in south-west London. Lisicki, a 2013 All England Club finalist, is absent. She made her last appearance at Wimbledon in 2017, and in the two years that followed she lost in qualifying.