Sevastova will play either Madison Keys or Caroline Wozniacki after becoming the first Latvian woman to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final since 1994.
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Australian Open champion Kerber defeated two-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova as she looks to improve on her best showing in NY of a semi-final spot in 2011.
In a match that certainly will not go down as a classic, neither women were at their best, with unforced errors ending the vast majority of points. Sometimes these outbursts came when she was in the most promising of positions; she seemed to be reacting as a tennis purist rather than a match-player.
Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova was so fed up with being constantly injured that she turned her back on the game before being enticed back in January 2015.
“Going into this match, I had no expectations of winning, I just wanted to do my best”, she said. The Brit, however, did not miss her opportunity, this time, going 15-40 ahead and saving a set point with a forehand victor, eventually breaking back.
Johanna Konta has been knocked out of the US Open in the last 16 by Anastasija Sevastova.
All in all it was a disappointing display from Konta against a woman who retired from tennis in 2013 for almost two years due to a series of injuries.
Wozniacki, a US Open finalist in 2009 and 2014 but unseeded this year after being sidelined for two months by an ankle injury, dominated from the start and wrapped up victory in a speedy 78 minutes.
Konta, an Australian Open semifinalist, collapsed to the court with trouble breathing during her second-round match, but she didn’t appear to have any physical problems Sunday.
Konta trailed 4-1 in the second set and saved two match points en route to levelling at 5-5 but Sevastova broke serve to win on her third match point.
“I know it sounds bad, but honestly, at this point I’m like, I really don’t care what my ranking is”, she said. I feel well enough to play.
“The main thing is that when I’m on court I have to believe in myself. My opponent played I think an overall more solid match than I did”, added Konta.
The other quarter-final in the bottom half of the draw sees German second seed Angelique Kerber face Roberta Vinci, the Italian seventh seed.
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To Konta’s credit, she acknowledged in her interviews to British Eurosport that Sevastova had outplayed her, and in keeping with her practice of refusing to live or die by her results – she has a lot to be hapy with in this USA (and Brazilian) hard court swing. The Australian Open champ had only eight winners, but that was just fine in light of Kvitova’s 43 unforced errors.
