Wozniacki comeback stalls in Nottingham
Caroline Wozniacki suffered a shock defeat to Estonia's world number 97 Anett Kontaveit at the Nottingham grasscourt event on Wednesday, dealing the former world number one another setback on the road to Wimbledon.
The 20-year-old Kontaveit made her second quarter-final of the year with a 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, 7-5 win over the third-seeded Dane who missed the clay court season to nurse a right ankle injury.
"It was tough losing the first set, but I guess that's how tennis goes," said Kontaveit.
"Sometimes you win those close points, sometimes you lose them. But you just have to keep fighting. The tactic was to try to put her under pressure, be aggressive. That's how I play."
Wozniacki said she was happy her ankle stood up to a three-set examination with Wimbledon just over two weeks away.
"The match was up and down, but she played well, so hats off to her," Wozniacki said.
"At the end of the day, I'm just happy that I'm able to play again. One step in the right direction, and from here I'll just move forward, know what I can work on and hopefully get better. The main thing is that my ankle is holding up, so I'm pleased with that."
Kontaveit next plays America's Alison Riske, who beat Taiwan's Su-Wei Hsieh 6-2, 6-4.
Top seed Karolina Pliskova saw off Anna Tatishvili of the United States 6-1, 6-3 in under an hour. Tatishvili had defeated Pliskova's twin sister Kristyna on Monday.
Pliskova next plays either Andrea Hlavackova or Ashleigh Barty.
Puerto Rico's Monica Puig enjoyed a 6-3, 6-0 win over Portuguese qualifier Michelle Larcher de Brito.