South loses in Birmingham
'Belgian Sharapova' proves too much for British number four
Last updated: 13th June 2008
Mel South's brave run at the DFS Classic was ended at the quarter-final stage by Yanina Wickmayer.
The 22-year-old from Surrey had become the first Briton for 16 years to get to the last eight of the Wimbeldon warm-up event, including a superb victory over fourth seed Sybille Bammer.
But she met her match in the shape of 18-year-old Belgian Wickmayer, who is hoping to fill the void created by the retirement of compatriots Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters.
Wickmayer is ranked 85th in the world and, due to her 5ft 11in frame, has been dubbed the "Belgian Sharapova" in her native country. She began the match with an ace but was forced to save three break points in her opening service game.
The decisive moment of the first set came when South dropped her serve in the eighth game.
Instead of holding for a 5-3 lead, the British number four found herself level and promptly dropped her serve for a third time to surrender the set.
Wickmayer went on to consolidate the only break of the second set and successfully serve out for a 6-4 6-3 victory in one hour and 20 minutes.
Features
The reigning Spain
Mark Petchey sees plain Argentina fall to Davis Cup final defeat as Fernando Verdasco proves the main man.
The talk of Sky Sports
Read what Sky Sports' experts and bloggers have been talking about over the last seven days in sport...
High stakes for Lopez
Mark Petchey says Feliciano Lopez could hold the key to Spanish Davis Cup glory in this week's final.
