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Kerber out of Wimbledon

July 5, 2012

Angelique Kerber has failed in her bid to make the Wimbledon final, losing to third seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in straight sets. The post-Steffi Graf German drought at the All England Club continues.

https://p.dw.com/p/15Rho
Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland (R) shakes hands with Angelique Kerber of Germany after defeating her in their women's semi-final tennis match at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London July 5, 2012.
Image: Reuters

Agnieszka Radwanska's counterattacking, error-free tennis was too much for Angelique on Wimbledon's Centre Court Thursday. The Polish star defeated Kerber 6-3, 6-4 to become the first confirmed finalist on the grass courts. She made just six unforced errors in the 70 minutes of play, compared to Kerber's 14.

"I'm so happy, it's amazing. I played very good today," Radwanska said after the game. "It's always tough against Angie [Kerber]. We are very good friends but of course on court we were both fighting for the final."

Kerber had spoken of the pair's friendship prior to their match.

Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland (L) kisses Angelique Kerber of Germany after defeating her in their women's semi-final tennis match
There's no love lost on court, but the pair are childhood friendsImage: Reuters

"We have known each other since we were little. My family comes from Poland after all. We speak Polish together and are good friends," the German world No. 8 said.

Radwanska will meet either Serena Williams or Victoria Azarenka, who were set to play later on Thursday, in the final. The 23-year-old world No. 3 described the tournament in the UK as the best two weeks of her career.

Kerber was seeded eighth for the classic grass court tournament, making her the bookmakers' favorite German. She defeated her countrywoman Sabine Lisicki in the quarterfinals to become the most successful German in the singles draw this year.

Two of the top German men, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Florian Mayer, could only make the last eight of the tournament. Nevertheless, it was Germany's best performance at the All England Club since the turn of the century.

Kerber's childhood hero Steffi Graf was the last German to win Wimbledon. Graf secured her seventh title on the grass courts in 1996, she also lost the 1999 final to Lindsay Davenport of the US.

Kerber met Graf for the first time on Wednesday on the sidelines of Wimbledon, saying "it was incredible, I had goose bumps."

msh/sej (dpa, SID)