Victoria Azarenka admitted she might cry, or go home and break something, after her Australian Open hopes ended at the hands of Angelique Kerber.
Azarenka was considered the greatest threat to Serena Williams defending her title in Melbourne but the Belarusian endured a shock 6-3 7-5 defeat to Kerber, who had lost all six of the pair's previous meetings.
Kerber goes through to the semi-finals to meet Britain's Johanna Konta while Azarenka is left to stew on a third consecutive exit in a grand slam quarter-final.
"I'm just going to let whatever emotion come to me," Azarenka said.
"I'm just going to work through it. If it's sadness, if I need to cry, I may cry. I don't know. If I need to break something, hopefully I don't break anything. But I just might.
"Whatever is natural is going to come, I'm just going to let it happen today."
Azarenka led 5-2 in the second set and had five set points to force a decider but Kerber came roaring back to seal victory.
"I think I was a little bit too flat today," Azarenka said.
"I obviously didn't start great. For me personally it was a little bit, 10 per cent, not enough of everything.
"My footwork didn't have enough. My shots didn't have enough. I felt I had a few too many unforced errors in the key moments.
"I created a lot of opportunities, but then I was not good enough on my opportunities. I didn't take them. I had plenty.
"That's not going to win matches in quarter-finals. You have to bring it and I didn't."
Kerber lost to Azarenka at last year's US Open but she raised her game to reach her first grand slam semi-final since 2012 at Wimbledon.
"I won against her for the first time. It does feel really good," Kerber said.
"I was just trying to focus on my game, to be aggressive, to be the player who makes the winners and who is going for it."
The world number six will now play Konta for a place in the final and she will be heavy favourite, standing 41 places above her opponent in the rankings.
Speaking before Konta's victory over Shuai Zhang had been completed, Kerber said: "It doesn't matter who I'm playing, they have nothing to lose.
"But I will try to not focus on the fact it's the semi-final and that it's a grand slam.
"I will just try to focus on doing the same stuff I'm doing before every match, focusing on my game.
"Also going out there to win the match, to be aggressive, take my first chances I can get."
Source: PA
