Angelique Kerber was sent crashing out of her home tournament in Nuremberg, as she was swept aside by Karolina Pliskova in straight sets.  Having endured a torrid clay court season, it went from bad to worse for the German, as she fell at the quarter final stage.   In the big shock of the day, the Czech was joined by Eugenie Bouchard, Elina Svitolina and Karin Knapp in the semi finals. 

On a day full of quality for the Bavarian faithful, they were treated to a whole host of splendid tennis, with the opening match between Italy’s Karin Knapp and France’s Caroline Garcia lasting over two and a half hours alone.  But, having stormed into the quarter final stage, many would have expected a rather routine victory for Angelique Kerber, as she faced an opponent whom she had beaten on their two previous meetings without losing a set. 

But from the off, it seemed that the vastly more experienced Kerber would run away with the match, as she won sixteen of the first seventeen points to truly usurp Pliskova.  And, in a match where the players shared an almighty thirteen breaks of serve, it was little wonder that the scoreboard remained so close throughout.  In a first set which ebbed and flowed, and at times lacked in quality, Pliskova grew in confidence throughout, recovering from her shaky start to peg back Kerber and take the first set into a decider.  With a flurry of winners, the Czech had sealed the set and turned the match onto its head.

With all of the momentum now truly in her favour, Pliskova looked relaxed as her racket transformed even the most difficult of balls into a winner.  Racing into a 4-1 lead, she slightly wobbled, before sealing the match at 6-4 on an ace. 

She will now face off against the extremely talented Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the semi finals, as one of the players to look easily swept aside the challenge of another rising star, Mona Barthel in just over an hour and fifteen minutes. 

Elsewhere, tennis’ poster girl, Eugenie Bouchard, fought off a gutsy challenge from Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova in the day’s final match.  In a match which lasted just over two hours, with both sets going the distance, the youngster’s punchy groundstrokes had to be at their very best to fight off the challenge of woman who she met only a few weeks ago. In their previous meeting in Portugal, Bouchard had come out on top in straight sets, but today’s match couldn’t have offered a more contrasting picture. 

With ten breaks of serve between them, the match shared a similar complexion to that of Kerber and Pliskova, but ultimately, Bouchard had what it took at the big moments, with a host of impressive winners sealing some timely points. 

But the match of the day was surely in that which kicked off all of the action, with Karin Knapp securing her first semi final of the year, as she came from a set down in what proved an intriguing battle to win in an hour and forty minutes.  The first started brightly, with both players playing some impressive tennis and neither securing the upper hand.  And it went all the way, with the opening set having to be decided by a tense tiebreak, finally culminating in an exhausting 11-9 victory for Garcia. 

But from that moment on, she struggled to keep the momentum going, as the match continued in a similar vein, with the finest of margins required to separate the players.  In the two sets which followed, the players shared a whole host of breaks between them, with neither serving particularly strongly.  But, the Italian just about managed to squeeze over the line, converting two more break points than her opponent to seal her place in the semi finals. 

In a day full of twists and turns, it seems rather prominent and just that Knapp, whose determination and grit shone throughout, secured another.  In beating the seventh seed, she ensured that only two seeded women remain.  The favourite is now Eugenie Bouchard, who will surely fancy her chances at securing her first WTA title.  

Results 

K Pliskova d. A Kerber (1) 76(5) 64 

E Svitolina (4) d. M Barthel 64 64 

E Bouchard (2) d. Y Shvedova 76(3) 76(6)

K Knapp d. C Garcia 67(9) 64 64