Kerber ousted in Nuremberg

Nuremberg - Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic has upset top-seeded Angelique Kerber of Germany 7-6 (5), 6-4 on Thursday to advance to the semi-finals of the Nuremberg Cup on Thursday.

Kerber squandered a 4-0 lead in losing the first set.

Pliskova held her serve twice in the second, Kerber only once, and that decided the match.

Kerber is ranked No. 9 in the world, while Pliskova is No. 64.

In another upset, Karin Knapp of Italy outlasted seventh-seeded Caroline Garcia of France, 6-7 (9), 6-4, 6-4 to reach her first semi-final in 10 months.

Results from the WTA Nuremberg tournament on Thursday (x denotes seeded player):

Quarter finals
Karolna Plskov (CZE) bt Angelique Kerber (GER x1) 7-6 (7/5), 6-4
Elina Svitolina (UKR x4) bt Mona Barthel (GER) 6-4, 6-4
Karin Knapp (ITA) bt Caroline Garcia (FRA x7) 6-7 (9/11), 6-4, 6-4
Eugnie Bouchard (CAN x2) bt Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ) 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (8/6)