Australian Open: Angelique Kerber trounced by unseeded Collins
Despite winning the Australian Open three years ago, German Angelique Kerber was knocked out of the year’s first Grand Slam tournament on Sunday by unseeded American Danielle Collins.
The 25-year-old Collins, ranked 35th in the world, took less than an hour to demolish second-seeded Kerber 6-0, 6-2, to advance to the quarterfinals.
Collins breezed through the opening set in 20 minutes with three service breaks, hitting winners on all sides of the court against the second seed, who had five double faults in the set.
After an early trade of breaks in the second set, Collins smashed a backhand to break Kerber’s serve and take a 4-2 lead, before breaking the German once again to seal victory on her first match point in 56 minutes.
Wimbledon champion Kerber, who turned 31 on Friday, entered the match as the overwhelming favorite after not dropping a set in her opening three matches.
Collins, making her first appearance in the main draw at Melbourne Park, will next play either fifth seed Sloane Stephens or Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who meet in the last match of the evening.
“I may not have won a Grand Slam match before this but I tell you, it’s going to keep happening,” said 25-year-old Collins after her win. “I better have many more of these.”
Earlier in the day, Australian Ashleigh Barty also became a surprise quarter-finalist after bringing Maria Sharapova’s attempt to win a first Grand Slam since the 2014 French Open to a grinding halt 4-6, 6-1, 6-4.
mm/rc (AFP, AP, DPA, Reuters)
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/australian-open-angelique-kerber-trounced-by-unseeded-collins/a-47154825