Badosa Pounds Gauff At Madrid Masters, Sabalenka Wins, Garcia Out, Sweet 16 For Andreeva
The big showdown Saturday between Paula Badosa and Coco Gauff at the Madrid Masters was a dud as the Spaniard hammered the teen 6-3, 6-0 in front of her home fans.
Badosa worked over the error-prone American in just 71 minutes to reach the fourth round.
“I’m proud of myself,” Badosa said after her win. “In this court with all the crowd supporting you, it makes me feel like everything, it’s worth it.”
Former champion Aryna Sabalenka advanced in a tough one over Colombia’s Camila Osorio 6-4, 7-5.
Sabalenka pounded 25 winners against the 22-year-old.
“That’s something that I expected, especially against players like her,” Sabalenka said to the WTA. “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. Once I will get this approach shot and I will be able to finish the point.
“So I was just telling myself to keep going for my shots and don’t start panicking.”
The Australian Open champion will now on the story of the tournament, teen Mirra Andreeva. Playing in her first 1000 level WTA event and just second over WTA tournament, Andreeva celebrated her 16th birthday today topping Madga Linette 6-3, 6-3.
Andreeva has now won her last 16 matches at all levels — she hasn’t lost since the Australian Open finals. She’ll now face Sabalenka!
“I didn’t expect to be here and playing Sabalenka in the Round of 16,” Andreeva said on the Tennis Channel. “I’m not really surprised with my level, because I know the way I can play on the court … but of course, I didn’t expect to be here and go this far.
“I have nothing to lose,” she said. “I just have to go there and show the best tennis I can. There is no pressure at all for me. There is some pressure on her, I think, because she’s going to play a 16-year-old girl. Most probably, we will play on some stadium, so I’m excited to do that.”
Mayar Sherif shocked the 5th-seeded Caroline Garcia in straight sets 7-6(7-2), 6-3.
No. 14 Liudmila Samsonova had a comfortable win over former French winner Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 6-0. The 24th-seeded Elise Mertens defeated Jule Niemeier of Germany in straight sets 6-3, 6-4. No. 31 seed Irina-Camelia Begu moved past 33rd-seeded Shelby Rogers 7-5, 6-2.
On tap tomorrow, matches slated in third round action led by No. 1 Iga Swiatek gets No. 28 Bernarda Pera in a first-time tour-level meeting.
No. 3 Jessica Pegula will meet No. 29 Marie Bouzkova. The two have split two head-to-head contests on tour. Bouzkova was victorious in their last battle at Indian Wells last year.
No. 8 Daria Kasatkina meets Lesia Tsurenko, No. 11 Barbora Krejcikova faces Xiyu Wang, No. 12 Veronika Kudermetova battles No. 21 Anastasia Potapova, No. 16 Ekaterina Alexandrova draws No. 22 Qinwen Zheng, No. 18 Martina Trevisan will challenge Alycia Parks plus No. 27 Petra Martic collides with Anna Kalinskaya.
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