News : Title defender Kerber fails in Wimbledon – Sport

Last year's winner, Angelique Kerber, was in a hurry to leave the famous tennis scene following her surprise retirement at Wimbledon. A year after her glamorous final coup, the 31-year-old disgraced with a disappointing performance and failed at a battered outsider. In quirky 1:54 hours on London's Church Road, the Kieler hardly defended and seemed at 6: 2, 2: 6, 1: 6 against the world ranking 96th Lauren Davis to surrender to her fate.

"It's almost surreal," said the surprise winner from the US, as Kerber was already gone. When she slipped from the first set on Court 2, the former number one in the world waved and quarreled several times. "What should I do?", She asked once perplexed.

On a warm summer's day, three days after the disastrous first-round finish of Alexander Zverev, the three-time Grand Slam champion said goodbye unexpectedly early. That Jan-Lennard Struff and Julia Görges play on Saturday for the first knockout round, was a minor matter. Like Kerber, the Metzinger Laura Siegemund retired in the second round. The image that Kerber made in her second appearance this year was far from the impression she made in the first few days after her return to the site of the greatest triumph. The Schleswig-Holsteiner had presented herself dissolved, emphasizing how well she felt and how happy she was to play on grass again.

Twelve months ago, the left-hander had impressed Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club at the time-honored All England and, with a final triumph over the US American Serena Williams, became the first German Wimbledon champion since Steffi Graf in 1996. Now the finalist failed as early as six years ago. All hopes for the next coup of Kerber were obsolete after the fourth day of the tournament, because it was duped by an outsider.

In the first four games, the breaks had lined up, then gave the last year's winner until the first set win initially no more play. When 2: 2 in the first set, the 25 -year-old Davis slipped on the grass and was also after the first set also connect the left foot. In any case, the 1.57-meter-tall athlete was bandaged from the beginning on the left knee and had tapestry on the right shoulder. Between the rallies Davis seemed to limp sometimes, but defeated Kerber nevertheless.

Overall, the outsider from the United States committed 50 unforced errors, but they also made 45 direct points. Kerber made 31 easier mistakes with only 13 hits. Two match balls fended off the German number one, then the surprise was perfect.

Görges and Struff reach round three

Last year's semi-finalist Görges and Davis Cup player Struff, on the other hand, moved into the third round in the grass classic. The 29-year-old from Warstein showed in stages at 6: 4, 6: 3, 5: 7, 7: 6 (7: 2) against the American Taylor Fritz a brilliant performance. "I am very happy with the victory, the first two sets were incredibly good," said the Sauerlander, having suspended his best Wimbledon result from the previous year.

With another victory on Saturday, the Paris knockout finalist would also reach the second week in Wimbledon for the first time. In 2018 Struff was eliminated in the third round against the Swiss record Grand Slam winner Roger Federer. This time, the odds are more realistic. His wish was fulfilled by having to fight the Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin and not the American service specialist John Isner.

Görges then completed their compulsory task against the Russian Warwara Flink and finished after 70 minutes with a 6: 1, 6: 4 the second round match against the qualifier from Russia. Although the number 17 of the world underwent 25 unforced errors, her 10 aces also helped her to never lose control of the encounter. At 5: 3 left the Bad Oldesloerin still a match ball from their own serve, she could not take it anymore. The 30-year-old now gets to deal with US-American Serena Williams or Kaja Juvan from Slovenia.