SA teenager Isabella Kruger exits Junior Wimbledon at quarter-final stage

Rising South African tennis player Isabella Kruger has been eliminated at the quarter-final stage of the Junior Wimbledon Championships.

Kruger, 17, lost 6-0, 5-7, 4-6 to fifth-seeded Canadian Victoria Mboko.

Kruger started the match like a house on fire as she breezed through the opening set without losing a game. She came close to winning deep in the second set but couldn't hold her nerve on the crucial points.

Kruger hit 27 winners compared to her opponent's 16, but made more unforced errors (40 compared to 29). The South African will also rue taking only four of 11 break point chances (36%).

Earlier in the tournament, Kruger beat British wild card Mingge Xu 6-4, 6-3 in the quarter-finals, she upset fourth seed Nikola Daubnerova of Slovakia 6-4, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2 in the second round, and America's Sonya Macavei 7-5, 5-7, 6-2 in the first round.

Kruger has an older sister, Zoe (19), who is also a professional tennis player.

Their father was former Springbok rugby player Ruben Kruger.

Ruben Kruger, who was part of the victorious Springbok team that won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, died in 2010 after battling brain cancer. He was 39.