Iga Swiatek, the present top-ranked participant, continues her outstanding journey towards a uncommon Madrid-Rome double, triumphing over Angelique Kerber to advance to the quarterfinals of the Italian Open on Monday.
This victory marks Swiatek’s ninth consecutive win, setting the stage for an exhilarating conflict in opposition to Madison Keys. Keys secured her spot within the quarterfinals with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 win over Sorana Cirstea, albeit amid interruptions from an environmental protest.
In a tense opener, Swiatek needed to overcome eight set factors earlier than clinching it, however she displayed outstanding composure within the second set, securing a 7-5, 6-3 victory with a robust shot that Kerber could not return, ending the match on her first match level.
Swiatek’s upcoming match in opposition to Keys units the stage for a rematch of final week’s Madrid Open semifinal, which Swiatek gained. A win in Rome would make Swiatek the primary girl since Serena Williams in 2013 to realize the “dirt double,” a outstanding feat on this planet of tennis.
“For sure, playing against Maddie is not easy,” Swiatek said. “The rating was fairly one-sided in Madrid. It’s sort of straightforward to your thoughts to simply drift off typically. The most necessary factor is to remain centered and actually disciplined.”
Keys’ match in Rome was briefly suspended at 3-1 within the second set after two protesters jumped onto the court docket and threw confetti, whereas others from the environmentalist group glued themselves to the stands.
“As soon as I saw them come over the barrier, my first thought was like, ‘Should I go tackle one of them?’ But I stopped myself,” Keys said. “And then the chair (umpire) began yelling at me to go sit down.
“Unfortunately, it’s beginning to change into somewhat little bit of a typical factor that’s taking place.”
The gamers returned to the locker room, and the protestors didn’t resist when safety intervened earlier than police and firefighters additionally arrived to deal with the scenario.
Two extra Americans have been by means of to the quarterfinals after third-seeded Coco Gauff rallied to beat Paula Badosa 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, and Danielle Collins eased previous Irina-Camelia Begu 6-0, 6-3.
Second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka fought again from a set down and needed to fend off three match factors – after getting therapy for a again downside – earlier than beating Elina Svitolina 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7) in a match that completed effectively after midnight native time.
Two-time champion Svitolina regarded sure to safe the victory on her first match level as she had what ought to have been the best of volleys over the online with Sabalenka seemingly stranded proper on the different facet of the court docket. But Svitolina hit the ball into the online.
Victoria Azarenka, Jelena Ostapenko, and Qinwen Zheng additionally superior.
In the boys’s match, defending champion Daniil Medvedev survived a scare earlier than prevailing in opposition to Serbian qualifier Hamad Medjedovic 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-5 of their third-round match.
Next Gen titleholder Medjedovic was given a standing ovation as he left the court docket after some brave tennis, however he shall be regretting not taking advantage of a set level within the opening set.
The second-seeded Medvedev will face Tommy Paul within the spherical of 16 after the American beat Dominik Koepfer 6-4, 6-3.
Both of the Madrid finalists have been eradicated.
Last week’s winner Andrey Rublev, who was seeded fourth in Rome, was upset by French qualifier Alexandre Muller 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 for his first win over a top-10 participant.
Madrid runner-up Felix Auger-Aliassime was overwhelmed by ninth-seeded Alex de Minaur 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-4.
Also advancing have been Hubert Hurkacz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Sebastian Baez, and Nicolas Jarry.
Source: www.dailysabah.com
