Swiatek Into Sweet 16 At Madrid Masters; Sabalenka v Andreeva, Sakkari v Badosa
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Tournament favorite and world No. 1 Iga Swiatek eased past No. 28 seed Bernarda Pera 6-3, 6-2 to reach the final 16 at the Madrid Masters.
Swiatek had four aces and dropped just six points on first serve while breaking four times in the match. Swiatek has now won 24 of her last 25 matches on clay, and her last six.
“I wouldn’t say it was easy. Every match is tricky here,” Swiatek said to the WTA. “I’m happy that I’m getting my rhythm. Playing against a lefty is never easy.
“But I’m pretty happy that I was disciplined and focused.”
2023 runner-up Jessica Pegula kept pace ousting 29th-seeded Marie Bouzkova in straight sets 6-4, 7-6(7-2).
Bouzkova, who beat Pegula last year, was just two of 14 on break chances.
“But with Marie it’s always like that. She always makes you earn it — a lot. I knew that going in. I’m just glad I was able to play some really good tennis,” Pegula said.
Elsewhere on Sunday on the last day of teh third round, No. 8 seed Daria Kasatkina got the better of Lesia Tsurenko in straights 6-4, 6-2. Eleventh-seeded Barbora Krejcikova sent off Xiyu Wang 6-4, 6-1.
Twelfth-seeded Veronika Kudermetova got through 21st-seeded Anastasia Potapova 7-6(7-3), 5-7, 6-3. No. 16 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova bested the 20-year-old Qinwen Zheng in three 5-7, 6-4, 6-2. Martina Trevisan got by Alycia Parks and Petra Martic advanced over Anna Kalinskaya 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
The Monday slate includes all eight fourth round matches led by Swiatek colliding against Alexandrova. The two have split two tour-level collisions with Swiatek winning their last meeting in the 2022 Ostrava semifinals.
No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka meets 16 year-old Mirra Andreeva in a first-time tour-level contest. Andreeva has won her last 16 matches at all levels, and she hasn’t dropped a set this week.
Pegula faces Trevisan, Kasatkina collides with Kudermetova and Sakkari faces Spanish favorite Badosa.
“Going to be another really tough clay-courter, someone who’s going to make me earn it,” Pegula said. “Martina’s really loud and feisty and competes really well. She loves the clay, so it’s going to be a really big test for me.”
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