| Kerber caps good day for Germany |
LONDON Angelique Kerber wore down compatriot Sabine Lisicki 6-3 6-7 7-5 to reach the Wimbledon semifinals and cap an excellent day for German tennis.
Philipp Kohlschreiber and Florian Mayer advanced to the men’s quarterfinals, the first time in the professional era that four Germans had reached the last eight of the same grand slam.
Kerber’s consistency proved too much for the erratic Lisicki, who beat top seed Maria Sharapova in the last round but hit 57 winners and made 50 unforced errors to bow out of the tournament.
“That’s very good for German tennis,” eighth seed Kerber told a news conference. “We have so many good players right now in Germany, that’s really good. One of us is still in the tournament. It’s good for Germany.”
Germany claimed 29 grand slam singles titles between 1985 and 1999 through Steffi Graf, Boris Becker and Michael Stich but had not had two men in the last eight of a grand slam since 1997 at Wimbledon.
Kohlschreiber, 28, saw off the challenge of American Brian Baker 6-1 7-6 6-3 to reach his first grand slam quarter-final at the 33rd attempt.
“Obviously, it’s really great for all of us,” the 27th seed said. “Normally the women are more in the press. They’re having the better results. So we’re very happy (to) come closer to them.
“Now we’re very happy that we have two players in the quarter-finals. I think it’s a long time that it ever happened. It’s very nice. But I hope that at least one will go to the semi-final.”
Mayer, the 31st seed, reached his first grand slam quarterfinals on his Wimbledon debut in 2004. Little did he know then that it would take him another eight years, and a trip through the “dark side”, to reach the same stage again. The player who almost quit the sport reached the last eight with a 6-3 6-1 3-6 6-2 win over Frenchman Richard Gasquet.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling for me right now. Eight years ago I was here in quarters, and now eight years later it’s again. So it’s a wonderful dream for me,” said Mayer.
“It’s good for German tennis, especially that me and Kohlschreiber could finally break through in a grand slam to reach the quarters, not only the girls as usual. It’s good for tennis in Germany.”
Kerber looked on course for the last four in straight sets after earning two match points in the tiebreak but the erratic Lisicki saved them both and nipped in to take it 9-7.
Fifteenth-seeded Lisicki, a semifinalist here last year, found her range in the third set and served for the match at 5-3 but Kerber won four games in a row to clinch victory in two and a half hours.
Kerber, US Open semifinalist in 2011, will play third seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland or Russian Maria Kirilenko for a place in the final.
Reuters
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