Angelique Kerber lost her opening singles match in the quarter-finals of the United Cup between Germany and Greece.
The returnee had no chance against Maria Sakkari in Sydney and had to admit defeat 0:6, 3:6. After 1:14 hours, Sakkari converted her third match point. The German team is 0-1 behind in the duel with Greece for a place in the semi-finals in Sydney.
Zverev against Tsitsipas
The Olympic champion Alexander Zverev, who is still unbeaten this year, is under pressure in the subsequent match against Stefanos Tsitsipas, third in the world rankings. Only if the Hamburg player wins could the decision be made in the mixed doubles.
Kerber, who was able to convince at times in her previous defeats against the Italian Jasmine Paolini (4:6, 5:7) and the French Caroline Garcia (6:1, 2:6, 2:6), did not get into the game at all and made many mistakes.
When the first game was won 1:3 in the second set, Kerber’s teammates and their coach Torben Beltz jumped up from their seats and gave encouraging applause. Immediately afterwards, the 35-year-old from Kiel managed a break, but it was no longer enough to win the set.