Tennis: Graf is humiliated in Berlin

Steffi Graf, the former world No 1, suffered one of the worst defeats of her career in the quarter-finals of the German Open in Berlin yesterday.

Playing only her third singles match after three months out with a knee injury, Graf was swept out of the tournament 6-0, 6-1 by South Africa's Amanda Coetzer, who also knocked the German out of the Australian Open in January.

Graf was chasing a record 10th Berlin title, but looked shaky from the outset. "I was somewhat nervous, because I knew that I couldn't play so well. At the moment I'm 99 per cent away from how I want to be playing," Graf said. "After a while I didn't have any self-confidence left. I would have been more disappointed if I'd had the feeling it had been a fight."

Coetzer took the first set in just 28 minutes. The German got off to a bad start with two double faults in her second service game and missed a break chance in the following game. Graf ended the match after just 56 minutes with a fifth double fault after losing nine points in a row.