Defending champion Angelique Kerber knocked out of Aegon Classic

17 June 2016 08:53

Angelique Kerber saw the defence of her Aegon Classic title come to an end in a dramatic quarter-final defeat to Carla Suarez Navarro.

The German second seed fought back from losing the opening set and was three times within two points of victory in the deciding set but was beaten 6-4 1-6 7-5 by the world number 16 from Spain.

In the semi-finals Navarro will play Madison Keys after she also battled back from a set down to beat Latvia's rising star Jelena Ostapenko 6-7 6-4 6-2 with a win that means the American, seeded seven in Birmingham, can achieve a top-10 world ranking if she wins her last-four clash on Saturday.

The other semi-final will be between Coco Vandeweghe, who won the Ricoh Open in 's-Hertogenbosch last week, and Barbora Strycova.

Vandeweghe continued her fine grass-court form with a 6-4 6-2 win over Yanina Wickmayer, while Strycova was also a straight sets winner against French Open quarter-finalist Tsvetana Pironkova 6-2 7-5.

Source: PA