Top seed Angelique Kerber was the last big-name player to kick off her 2016 Ericsson Open campaign in Bastad on Wednesday, playing her first round match against Sweden’s Cornelia Lister.
On paper, the match between the world #2 and reigning Australian Open champion Kerber and the Swedish world #664 would have been a no-brainer, the match turned out to be a lot more dramatic than many people would have expected though.
Suffering from issues with her left elbow, Kerber found herself trailing quickly, losing the first set to Lister under the watchful eyes of Hollywood superstar Hugh Grant in the crowd.