No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus advanced to the Round of 16 at the Matua Madrid Open at Spain on Saturday, while No. 6-seed Coco Gauff was eliminated.
Sabalenka, the No. 2-ranked player in the world, earned a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Camila Osorio of Colombia, and will face 16-year-old upstart Mirra Andreeva of Russia for a chance to advance to the quarterfinals.
Osorio broke Sabalenka’s serve to even the match at 3-3 in the first set and then won the next game. But Sabalenka recovered to wiin three straight games to close out the opening-set win. Sabalenka led the second set 4-1 before Osorio rallied back following a delay for a left leg injury.
“That’s something that I expected, especially against players like her,” said Sabalenka, the 2019 champion at Madrid. “She can return, she can play long rallies, and she can come back to the match. I just kept telling myself I have to keep going for my shots and I just have to make her move because she’s not going to move all day long.”
Osorio broke Sabalenka’s serve twice in the second set, with the second coming as her top-ranked opponent was serving for the match at 5-4. Sabalenka would ultimately serve out the match on a day when she hit 25 winners.
Gauff, the No. 6 seed, was crushed by Spain’s Paula Badosa 6-3, 6-0 in just over one hour. With the crowd soundly behind her, the No. 26-seed Badosa converted three of her six break points in the first set and then rolled to the victory in the second set.
Andreeva turned her 16th birthday Saturday into a party when she eliminated Magda Linette of Poland 6-3, 6-3. The wild card knocked out the No. 17 seed by breaking serve four times, ending the match on her fourth.
Mayar Sherif of Egypt pulled off a major upset with a 7-6 (2), 6-3 victory over fifth-seeded Caroline Garcia of France. It is the second top-10 victory of her career. Garcia committed 33 unforced errors.
No. 14 seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia earned a 6-2, 6-0 win over No. 19 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, while No. 24 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium earned a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Jule Niemeier of Germany.
No. 31-seed Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania moved on to the round of 16 with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over American Shelby Rogers, the No. 33 seed.
In Saturday’s final match, ninth-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece fought back against Spain’s Rebeka Masarova to pick up a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory.
–Field Level Media
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