No. 2 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium brushed off a loss in a first-set tiebreaker and got past Germany’s Tatjana Maria 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-1 on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Singapore Tennis Open.
Mertens rallied from a 3-0 hole in the first set to get to the tiebreaker, only to squander a 3-0 head start by losing seven straight points. She cleaned up her game in the second and third sets and won 11 of her 13 first-service points in the dominant third frame.
Chinese fourth seed Xinyu Wang was a 6-4, 6-2 winner over Australia’s Maya Joint. Wang advanced to face Switzerland’s Jil Teichman, who defeated Australian Olivia Gadecki 6-4, 6-4.
It wasn’t all bad news for the Aussies, as Kimberly Birrell got past American Hailey Baptiste in two hours and 50 minutes, 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-5. Birrell saved 9 of 11 break points and absorbed nine aces by Baptiste.
Upper Austria Ladies Linz
Russia’s Anna Blinkova sent No. 2 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine packing with a 6-4, 6-4 victory in the Round of 16 in Linz, Austria.
Blinkova saved 9 of 14 break points while breaking Svitolina’s serve on 7 of 14 chances. Czech top seed Karolina Muchova had better luck than Svitolina, cruising to a 6-2, 6-3 triumph over Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain.
Fourth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia and fifth seed Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine advanced in straight sets. Croatia’s Petra Martic bounced No. 7 seed Elina Avanesyan of Armenia 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.
–Field Level Media
Amid all of the soap opera-caliber chaos of a rift between standout forwards J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson, the Vancouver Canucks are riding a three-game winning streak into a Friday…
The Milwaukee Bucks are on the hunt for a successful finish to their midseason road trip against Western Conference teams when they square off against the struggling San Antonio Spurs…
The defending NBA champion Boston Celtics have been inconsistent recently, but their veteran center has been on a roll. Kristaps Porzingis will aim to continue his strong play when Boston…
Bucks look to end road trip on high note, will battle slumping Spurs
Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis in rhythm entering matchup with Pelicans
Victor Wembanyama makes first All-Star Game as reserves announced
Sixers ride win streak into matchup vs. struggling Nuggets