Former tennis world number one Angelique Kerber was eliminated in the first round of the WTA tournament in Rome.
The 34-year-old from Kiel, currently number 19 in the ranking, had no chance against the American Cori Gauff, who was four places higher, and lost 1:6, 4:6 after just 71 minutes.
In mid-April in Stuttgart, Kerber also failed on clay in round one due to top ten player Anett Kontaveit from Estonia. Previously at the “fifth major” in Miami, former number one Naomi Osaka (Japan) was a number too big for Kerber at the start .
In 2022, the three-time Grand Slam winner will already have eight defeats with just two wins – both of which she won in Indian Wells in March.
Kerber started the match perfectly with a break against 18-year-old Gauff in the Foro Italico, but the left-hander subsequently lost eight games in a row. Almost two weeks before the French Open in Paris, Kerber, who was able to make at least the second set a little more open, was extremely vulnerable, especially with his own serve.