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Thursday, April 26, 2018, 18:14
Kerber is reborn in Stuttgart, another early loss for Stephens
By Associated Press
Thursday, April 26, 2018, 18:14 By Associated Press

This undated photo shows Angelique Kerber from Germany playing against Petra Kvitova from the Czech Republic. (MARIJAN MURAT / DPA)

Stuttgart - Former champion Angelique Kerber shook off her weekend Fed Cup trauma with an emphatic 6-3, 6-2, first-round victory over Petra Kvitova on the same court at the Porsche Grand Prix on Wednesday.

US Open champion Sloane Stephens in contrast failed to follow-up on her recent Miami title as she suffered yet another early exit, a crushing 6-1, 6-0 defeat against fellow American Coco Vandeweghe.

ALSO READ: Kerber easily advances to 2nd round in Dubai

World number one Simona Halep of Romania meanwhile advanced into the quarter-finals after a first-round bye, rallying 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 past Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova.

Kerber lost in straight sets to Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova as the Czechs won the Fed Cup semi-final Saturday and Sunday, but was reborn on Wednesday on the duel of lefties and two-time grand slam winners.

Fired up by a noisy home crowd, Kerber wobbled on her first two service games but then grew in confidence and took the last four games from 3-2 down to win the set with two breaks on a forehand error from Kvitova.

The German saved a break point in the opening game of the second, broke for 3-1 and wrapped up matters after 1 hour 17 minutes on third match point on another Kvitova error.

"It wasn't easy because I lost an important match to Petra on Sunday. But I learnt my lesson. I tried to be more aggressive and dictate play," the 12th-ranked Kerber said.

"When I came out I had goosebumps. You don't play at home so often, I love playing here," the 2015 and 2016 Stuttgart champion added.

Czech's Petra Kvitova returns the ball to Germany's Angelique Kerber during their match of the tennis FedCup World Group semi-final between Germany and Czech Republic in Stuttgart, southwestern Germany, on April 22, 2018. (THOMAS KIENZLE / AFP)

The eighth-seeded Kvitova said: "I wish that nothing would have changed. But she played much better today."

Seven seed Stephens lasted just 56 minutes against the wildcard entry Vandeweghe, winning only the opening game and dropping all her serves in a performance which drew some boos from the crowd at the last changeover.

"I probably played OK," Vandeweghe said. "I didn't really do all that much, she gave me the errors."

Stephens last won a match outside North America at Wimbledon 10 months ago, and has gone out in the first round in seven of her 10 tournaments since her US Open title in September. Last month's Miami title did not lead to a turnaround either.

Vandeweghe next faces German title holder Laura Siegemund. Kerber plays Estonian Anett Kontaveit, who denied last year's runner-up Kristina Mladenivic serving out the match at 5-4 in the third set to win 5-7, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5) in 3:09 hours.

Two-time French Open finalist Halep had a stuttering start into her latest clay court campaign but fought from a set down and a break down in the second and third set to oust world number 18 Rybarikova, wrapping up matters with a forehand winner.

READ MORE: Kerber wins twice as Germany beats Belgium 2-1 at Hopman Cup

"She played very well. I just wanted to keep the ball in play. I was missing a lot but then found my rhythm," Halep said.

The third American at the event, losing US Open finalist Madison Keys, went out against Russian Anastasija Pavlyuchenkova, 7-6 (9-7), 5-7, 6-4, after wasting a set point in the first set.

Qualifiers Veronika Kudermetova of Russia and Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan also advanced and face fifth seed Pliskova and fourth-seeded French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, respectively.

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