Top seed Maria Sharapova made a surprise exit from the WTA Paris Open when she was beaten in the quarterfinals Friday by German ninth seed Angelique Kerber.
Sharapova had beaten Kerber in straight sets on the way to the final of the Australian Open last month, but was below her best as he slumped to a 6-4 6-4 defeat in the Pierre de Coubertin indoor arena.
The Russian was playing her first tournament since losing to new World No.1 Victoria Azarenka in the title match at the opening grand slam of the year.
She came through her first match and will rise to No.2 in the world rankings next week, but despite breaking Kerber’s service twice in the opening set lost control of the match.
Full story: Top seed Sharapova crashes out of WTA tournament in Paris