Tennis: Anett Kontaveit downs WTA Elite Trophy holder Julia Goerges in Zhuhai
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A file photo taken on Oct 4, 2018, shows Anett Kontaveit in action during her women's singles third round match against Caroline Wozniacki at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing.
PHOTO: AFP
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ZHUHAI, CHINA (AFP) - Defending champion Julia Goerges suffered a bruising defeat by Anett Kontaveit at the WTA Elite Trophy in China on Wednesday (Oct 31).
The fifth seed took a nasty tumble midway through the match, which she went on to lose 2-6, 6-4, 4-6 after more than two hours.
Kontaveit, the 12-player tennis tournament's 10th seed, started brightly, breaking the world No. 14 three times to take the opening set.
Goerges, 29, fell heavily on the hard court in the sixth game of the second set, and needed to ice her right leg during the changeover.
Clearly slightly rattled, the German nevertheless dug deep to claim the set, pumping her fist and gesturing to her coach as she celebrated.
However, it was the 22-year-old Estonian Kontaveit who won the decider at the Hengqin International Tennis Centre.
World No. 20 Kontaveit has now played both her round-robin matches, after losing on Tuesday to Belgium's Elise Mertens, who will play Goerges later in the tournament.
Now in its fourth year, the Elite Trophy features players ranked roughly from nine to 20. This year's total prize money is US$2.35 million (S$3.25 million) across the singles and doubles tournaments.
