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World No. 1 Angelique Kerber was sent packing from the Brisbane International on Thursday when Elina Svitolina outclassed her with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory on Thursday in Brisbane, Australia. It marked the second consecutive time that the sixth-seeded Svitolina defeated Kerber.
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The Ukrainian will face third-seeded Karolina Pliskova in the semifinals. Pliskova, from the Czech Republic, advanced with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 victory over eighth-seeded Italian Roberta Vinci 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Kerber was disappointed with her performance as she prepares to defend her Australian Open crown later this month.
"Of course I'm disappointed that I lost here in the quarters. I think I'm happy about my start," Kerber said. "I'm not worried about my serve. I know I can improve it, but, I mean, that's the second match of the year, the first tournament.
"It was not a bad match. I think we both play on the really high level ... so, yeah, next."
The German committed 48 unforced errors against Svitolina.
Fourth-seeded Garbine Muguruza of Spain recovered from an early hole to record a 7-5, 6-4 victory over fifth-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova and reach the semifinals.
Muguruza, who trailed 4-1 in the opening set before embarking on a turnaround, will face Alize Cornet of France in the semis. Cornet stunned second-seeded Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 7-5 in her quarterfinal match.
Cornet is playing well in Brisbane and sees an opportunity to end up in the finals.
"I always had a lack of consistency during my career, and maybe the fact that I'm 26, I'm a little bit older now, I have more experience, and I feel like maybe I'm touching something during this week of Brisbane," Cornet said after her win.
"Emotionally, I handle my emotions much better. And I think that's how I got some really great victories here.
--Eighth-seeded American Alison Riske pulled off a stunning upset by registering a 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 victory over top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland to reach the semifinals of the Shenzhen Open in China.
Riske overpowered the defending champion in the third set. Radwanska defeated Riske in last year's title match.
Riske will face unseeded Camila Giorgi of Italy in the semis. Giorgi was a 6-0, 6-2 winner over unseeded Wang Qiang of China.
Johanna Konta advanced by outlasting unseeded Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-7 (11), 6-3.
The third-seeded Konta will face unseeded Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the semifinals. Siniakova sailed past unseeded Nina Stojanovic of Serbia 6-3, 6-4 in her quarterfinal match.
Konta, of Great Britain, regrouped after the marathon second set against Pliskova to finish off the victory.
"She is one of the best servers on tour so I knew going into the match I was going to have a hard time on her service games," Konta said. "I was very happy I was able to get that break in the third and see it out in the end."
--Unseeded Julia Goerges of Germany recovered after an opening-set loss to post a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over third-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark in the quarterfinals of the ASB Tennis Classic at Auckland, New Zealand.
Goerges controlled the final two sets and will face eighth-seeded Ana Konjuh of Croatia in the semifinals. Konjuh had a 3-0 lead in the first set of her quarterfinal match when unseeded Naomi Osaka of Japan retired.
Wozniacki won nine of the first 10 games in the match before Goerges won the final six games of the second set to turn around her fortunes.
"I just tried to hang in there somehow," Goerges said afterward. "I just missed everything I could miss and she didn't miss one ball."
Unseeded American Lauren Davis and seventh-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia will square off in the other semifinal. Davis rolled to a 6-1, 7-6 (4) victory over fourth-seeded Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic, while Ostapenko delivered a 7-5, 6-3 win over unseeded American Madison Brengle.
