History has been made at Wimbledon as for the first time ever there will be no top 10 seeds in Quarter Finals of the Ladies tournament. The sole remaining top 10 seed, Karolina Pliskova was the final one to fall as she was defeated in straight sets by Kiki Bertens on Manic Monday.
The seventh seed lost out 6-3 7-6(1) in an hour and 41 minutes to the Dutchwoman in the fourth round of the Wimbledon Championships after a largely uninspiring display.
Bertens grabbed an early break in the third game of the match had a chance to grab a double break in Pliskova’s next service game. However the Czech player broke back to level the set at 3-3. Bertens would retake the lead with another break in the following game, before sealing it 6-3 with a third win in a Pliskova service game.
It looked like the Dutchwoman would runaway with it after going 4-1 up in the second set, but Pliskova found a better level to break back and force a tiebreak. The breaker was one way traffic however as Bertens cruised to take it 7-1 and book her place in the Wimbledon Quarter Finals for the first time.
The world number 20 will face Germany’s Julia Goerges in the next round who cruised past Donna Vekic 6-3, 6-2 in her fourth round match.
Kerber and Serena Remain In The Tournament
It has been a terrible tournament for the top 10 players at Wimbledon this year, and the reason for their struggles have been explored here: Exploring Why Seeds Drop Out Early In Women’s Tennis.
However there are still some big names left in the women’s side of the draw, not least of which is Serena Williams. In an all mother clash, the American cruised past Evgeniya Rodina 6-2, 6-2 to return to the quarter finals at Wimbledon for the first time in two years.
Williams will face Camila Giorgi on Tuesday after the unseeded Italian overcame Ekaterina Makarova 6-3, 6-4 earlier in the day.
The Highest ranked player left is the 11th seed Angelique Kerber after the German’s straight set victory over Belinda Bencic. The former two time Grand Slam champion took the first set 6-3, but was pushed all the way in the second where she as forced to save four match points en route to a 7-6(5) win.
14th seed Daria Kasatkina awaits Kerber in the quarter finals after the young Russian came from a set down to beat Alison Van Uytvanck (8)6-7, 6-3, 6-2 for her first Wimbledon quarter final.
Jelena Ostapenko is the third former Grand Slam champion left in the draw as the Latvian defeated Aliaksandra Sasnovich 7-6(4) 6-0 to set up a quarter final match against the in-form Dominika Cibulkova.
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