Kerber marches on, Muller beaten

SYDNEY: Germany’s Angelique Kerber won a seventh straight match as she steamed into the semi-finals of the Sydney International on Thursday boosting her confidence for next week’s Australian Open.

Kerber, who began last year as No.1 before finishing at No.22, continued her 2018 resurgence with a thumping 6-3, 6-1 win over Slovakia Dominika Cibulkova.The German will meet Italian qualifier and world No.100 Camila Giorgi, who upset Poland’s former world No.2 Agnieszka Radwanska 6-1, 6-2.It is an impressive start to the new year for Kerber, having won her four matches at last week’s mixed teams Hopman Cup in Perth before her three victories in Sydney.

Kerber, who knocked out Venus Williams in her opening match in Sydney, said she was not yet back to her best form of 2016 when she won the Australian and US Opens. The other semi-final will be an all-Australian affair between Ashleigh Barty and Daria Gavrilova. Barty, ranked nineteenth, cruised past Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-2, while 25th-ranked Gavrilova had direct passage to the last four when Spain’s Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza withdrew after her win over Kiki Bertens with a thigh injury.