Apr 23, 2015
Sharapova, Kvitova ousted; Wozniacki reaches Porsche QFs
Angelique Kerber of Germany upset three-time defending champion Maria Sharapova 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the second round of the Porsche Grand Prix on Thursday. The top-seeded Russian won four straight games to clinch the first set. But she made some errors to drop the second, and faded in the third.
The Sports Network
Stuttgart, Germany (SportsNetwork.com) - Three-time defending Stuttgart champion Maria Sharapova and Wimbledon titlist Petra Kvitova were a pair of second-round losers, while former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki reached the quarterfinals at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
German left-hander Angelique Kerber upended the top-seeded former world No. 1 star Sharapova 2-6, 7-5, 6-1. The loss means Sharapova will be supplanted by Simona Halep as the new world No. 2 when next week's rankings are released.
Kerber improved to 3-4 lifetime against the five-time Grand Slam champ Sharapova, who beat the German in a semifinal here two years ago. Kerber has now won their last two matchups.
The reigning French Open titlist and Australian Open runner-up Sharapova captured a third straight Porsche title last year by beating fellow former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic in a marquee finale.
Meanwhile, American Madison Brengle doused the third-seeded Czech left-hander Kvitova 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) and the fourth-seeded U.S. Open runner-up Wozniacki got past Czech Lucie Safarova 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 on the indoor clay at Porsche Arena.
Brengle served for the match at 5-4 against Kvitova, but the Czech slugger saved three match points to force a tiebreak. The Delaware native Brengle eventually won her first match over a top-10 player with a backhand passing shot.
"I think that Madison played a solid match. She didn't miss much and it was really difficult for me because when I had the opportunity for winners I missed," Kvitova said. "The confidence wasn't really high then and I didn't feel physically there as well.
Wozniacki was a Stuttgart finalist in 2011.
"It was a tough first round but I'm happy to be through," Wozniacki said. "I'm pleased with the way I managed to mix up the pace, and I ran a lot of balls down, which was good. Here the clay is a little bit more slippery, so it was all about being the first one to move your opponent, and I did that well."
Sixth-seeded Russian Ekaterina Makarova eased into the quarters by leveling Russian lucky-loser Marina Melnikova 6-2, 6-3, while Thursday's nightcap saw eighth-seeded Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro top Swiss teenager Belinda Bencic 6-4, 7-6 (7-1).
In some other second-round action, former French Open runner-up Sara Errani handled Kazakhstan's Zarina Diyas 6-4, 6-1 and rising Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia grounded German wild card Carina Witthoeft 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.
Friday's quarterfinals will pit a second-seeded Halep against Errani; Wozniacki versus Suarez Navarro; Makarova against Kerber; and Brengle versus Garcia.
The 2015 Stuttgart champ will earn $108,000 and a new Porsche 911 Carrera sports car.