Rome — World No1 Angelique Kerber crashed out of the Rome Masters on Wednesday, the top seed beaten 6-4 6-0 in the second round by Anett Kontaveit of Estonia. The German’s 56-minute knockout came two days after she was confirmed at the top of the WTA rankings, displacing Serena Williams after making it to the third round at last week’s Madrid Open. The defeat demonstrated more of the patchy and inconsistent form that the 29-year-old cannot seem to shake off since starting to duel with Williams at the top of the WTA listings last season. She lost serve five times to join another drawcard, Maria Sharapova, on the sidelines. "It feels great," a beaming Kontaveit said. "It’s my first time beating the No1 in the world, so, you know, I’m super excited." Kontaveit has been on fire for the past couple of months, when she roared into her first WTA final at the inaugural Ladies Open Biel Bienne at an indoor arena in Switzerland. The former junior prodigy followed up that form with a first Top...
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