Kerber, Woz Upset; Halep Eyes No. 1 in Quarterfinals at Wimbledon

Upsets abounded on Monday at Wimbledon as the world No. 1 and No. 5 seeds were upended at the All England Club, paving the way for a new No. 1.
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Former runner-up and No. 14 seed Garbine Muguruza claimed the biggest scalp, taking down No. 1 seed Angelique Kerber 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

“For me, I’m still looking forward to the next months,” said Kerber, who will now lose the No. 1 ranking at the end of Wimbledon to either Simona Halep or Karolina Pliskova. “I think I’m again on a good way to playing again a high level of tennis.”

Halep is now one win away from taking the No. 1 ranking after Monday beating former No. 1 Victoria Azarenka. In the quarters she will face Johanna Konta, who became the first British woman in 33 years to reach the Wimbledon quarerfinals.

No. 24 CoCo Vandeweghe was the second-biggest upset-maker after overpowering former No. 1 and No. 5 Caroline Wonziacki 7-6(6), 6-4.

Vandeweghe says she continues to be driven by new coach Pat Cash.

“He’s kept the same kind of mantra through the start,” the American said. “Of focusing — it’s kind of the demand he has.”

She will next meet the unseeded Magdalena Rybarikova, who beat Vandeweghe at the French, and on Monday outlasted Petra Martic 6-4, 2-6, 6-3.

Top 10 seeds in the winning vein were No. 7 Svetlana Kuznetsova who handled No. 9 Aggie Radwanska 6-2, 6-4, and No. 10 Venus Williams who gave a lesson to youngster and No. 27 seed Ana Konjuh 6-3, 6-2.

The elder Williams sister will next face French Open reigning champion and No. 13 seed Jelena Ostapenko, who let loose from the baseline to upset No. 4 Elina Svitolina 6-3, 7-6(6).

“For me it’s about getting through the round,” Williams said. “You’re not going to play perfect every round…All that matters is you win.

Ostapenko had 37 unforced errors in a free-swinging display.

“I really needed to stay aggressive to win the point,” said Ostapenko, who hit 42 winners over two sets, and closed it out on her eighth match point. “I really had to go for it to win the match.”

Williams said she did not catch any of Ostapenko’s French Open win.

I haven’t seen her play a lot,” Williams said. “I think my coach will probably look at [her] matches more than I will. I think I’ll see what happens when I get out there.”

On Tuesday at the All England Club are all four quarterfinals: (10) Williams vs. (13) Ostapenko, (2) Halep vs. (6) Konta, (7) Kuznetsova vs. (14) Muguruza, and (24) Vandeweghe vs. Rybarikova.