AUSTRALIAN OPEN

Kerber highest seed to fall

— Fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber was ousted in the fourth round of the Australian Open by the woman who defeated Serena Williams at the same stage last year.

No. 19-seeded Ekaterina Makarova had a 7-5, 6-4 victory on Rod Laver Arena, taking out the highest seed to tumble so far at the season’s first major.

Makarova beat Williams in the fourth round in 2012 at Melbourne Park and went on to reach the quarterfinals, which remains her best result at a major. Kerber and Makarova were two of only four women in 2012 to beat Williams, who lost only one match in the second half of last season as she collected titles at Wimbledon, the London Olympics, the U.S. Open and the WTA Championships.

“Seems like it was the same this year and last year. Unbelievable feeling,” Makarova said. “I really like to play here. The crowd is so perfect.”

In men’s play, fourth-seeded David Ferrer had a 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 victory over No. 16 Kei Nishikori of Japan to reach the quarterfinals, where he could meet Nicolas Almagro.

Nishikori had won two of his previous three matches with Ferrer and was a quarterfinalist in Australia last year, but struggled with 65 unforced errors.

Kerber, a Wimbledon semifinalist last year, had beaten Makarova in their previous three matches and went in as favorite at Melbourne Park. She had trouble with her back, but said it didn’t affect the outcome of the match, adding that Makarova was capable going further in the tournament.

“I think if she played very well she can, yeah, beat also top players,” Kerber said.

Another pair who met here last year played out a similar result, with Roger Federer knocking Bernard Tomic out of the tournament in straight sets to end Australia’s participation in either the men’s or women’s singles draws.

Federer gave the 20-yearold Aussie an instant reality check by breaking him in the very first game to set up a 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-1 victory.

“I elected to serve, considering I was serving really well the last few weeks,” said Tomic, who won his first ATP World Tour title at Sydney last week and had a victory over No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic at an exhibition tournament in Perth at the start of the month. “Yeah ... that first service game was important. I lost it. Then I was like, ‘Oh, no!”’

Federer, who has won four of his 17 Grand Slam titles at Melbourne Park, also beat Tomic in the fourth round here last year.

Federer will face Canadian Milos Raonic, who had 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-4 victory over Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber in a matchup of two big servers.

The third round ended when Gilles Simon outlasted fellow Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-4, 4-6, 1-6, 8-6.

Both men needed treatment from the trainer during the 4-hour, 43-minute match on Hisense Arena, with Simon struggling to shake off soreness in his elbow and Monfils fighting fatigue.

Simon and Jeremy Chardy, who ousted 2009 U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, were among the four Frenchman who advanced.

Their compatriots, No. 7-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga — who beat Slovenian Blaz Kavcic 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 — No. 9 Richard Gasquet — who ousted Croatia’s Ivan Dodig 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-0 — will meet in the next round.

Del Potro’s 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 3-6, 6-3 loss to Chardy left only three major winners in the men’s draw — Djokovic, Federer and Andy Murray.

Murray, who broke a 76-year drought for British men at the majors with his victory at the U.S. Open last year, advanced to the fourth round with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Lithuanian qualifier Ricardas Berankis.

Sports, Pages 32 on 01/20/2013

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