Angelique Kerber narrowly avoided the fate of five other seeded players at the Brisbane International, fighting back from 5-2 down in the deciding tie-breaker to beat Puerto Rican qualifier Monica Puig, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (9-7) in the second round on Wednesday.
After No. 2 Maria Sharapova withdrew due to a collarbone injury and with the players seeded Nos. 5-8 already eliminated, Kerber helped salvage the prospects of the top 10 players at the tournament by joining No. 3 ranked Serena Williams in the quarterfinals.
"For sure it was a surprise how she played. I didn't know her before, but, yeah, I'm sure that she'll coming very soon top 50," Kerber said of Puig. "I have a lot of confidence right now that I won again (a) very close match like this."
Kerber remained composed and weathered the deep, powerful ground strokes from Puig, who left the court in tears after an unforced error on the third match point.
The 19-year-old Puig, ranked No. 124, led 4-1 in the third set and was only two points from what would have been her biggest ever victory when she dumped a swinging volley into the bottom of the net in the tie-breaker, letting the No.4 seeded Kerber back into the contest.
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