PARIS- - German veteran Angelique Kerber bowed out of professional tennis at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday after losing 7-6(4) 6-4 7-6(6) in the quarter-finals in a three-set thriller against world No. 7 Zheng Qinwen of China.
Zheng is the second Chinese player to reach the singles semi-finals at an Olympics after Li Na, who finished fourth at the Beijing 2008 Games. After two tough sets, Kerber, who won a silver medal at Rio 2016, took the lead in the third to 4-1 and received a standing ovation from an enthusiastic French crowd after saving a huge break point. Having run out of steam on a hot and humid Philippe Chatrier court and lost 10 points in a row, she bounced back to 4-4. But the Zhen's powerful shots allowed her to win the tiebreak. Reaching the quarter-finals, at a tournament the 36-year-old had said would be her last, was the former world number one's best performance this year after returning from maternity leave in January. The German had lost in the first round of this year's three Grand Slams so far, the Australian and French Open followed by Wimbledon. Zheng reached a career-high ranking of No. 7 after her runner-up finish at the Australian Open.
