The German Angelique Kerber ends her career with an out in the quarter-finals of the Olympic tennis tournament.
After three surprising victories, the 36-year-old was defeated 7:6 (7:4), 4:6, 6:7 (6:8) by China's Zheng Qinwen.
On her way to the quarter-finals, the three-time Grand Slam tournament winner, who is now only ranked 212th in the world, had beaten Naomi Osaka and Leylah Fernandez, among others. She demanded everything from the world number seven Zheng. She led 4:1 in the deciding set and fended off three match points in the tie-break.
Zheng will meet the favorite Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals. The world number one from Poland and winner of the last three French Opens beat Daniele Collins (WTA 9) by retiring in the third set to win her 25th match in a row at Roland Garros.
The second semi-final will see an underdog duel between the Czech Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (ATP 67) and either the Ukrainian Marta Kostjuk (ATP 19) or the Croatian Donna Vekic (ATP 21).
