Hailey Baptiste moved into the quarterfinals of the Abu Dhabi Open with a 7-6 (6), 0-6, 6-3 victory against No. 4 seed and fellow American Emma Navarro on Tuesday in the United Arab Emirates.
Baptiste struck seven aces and saved five of nine break points to win in two hours and six minutes. Up next is No. 5 seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia, a 6-2, 6-2 winner against Indonesia’s Janice Tjen.
No. 3 seed Clara Tauson of Denmark and American McCartney Kessler will meet in another quarterfinal after their straight-sets victories. Tauson took out Switzerland’s Simona Waltert 6-3, 6-1 and Kessler upended No. 6 Leylah Fernandez of Canada 6-3, 6-2.
Transylvania Open
No. 2 seed and home favorite Jaqueline Cristian survived a 6-2, 2-6, 7-5 challenge from Italy’s Lucrezia Stefanini in a first-round match in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Cristian converted four of five break points in the two-hour, 18-minute match, including a crucial break in the 11th game of the decisive set before serving out the match. Cristian’s second-round opponent will be Ukraine’s Daria Snigur, who defeated France’s Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah 6-3, 6-3.
In other first-round action, No. 4 seed Xinyu Wang of China defeated Spain’s Kaitlin Quevedo 6-3, 6-0 and No. 5 Anastasia Potapova of Austria beat Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti 5-7, 6-4, 7-5. Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova moved into the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-4 upset of No. 8 Anna Bondar of Hungary. China’s Yue Yuan also made the quarters, outlasting Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5) in three hours and 24 minutes.
Ostrava Open
Unseeded American Katie Volynets knocked off No. 1 seed Tatjana Maria of Germany 7-5, 6-1 to advance to the quarterfinals in the Czech Republic.
Volynets saved three of four break points and converted five of 11 break opportunities to set up a meeting with U.S. compatriot Alycia Parks, who notched a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Armenia’s Elina Avanesyan.
Sixth-seeded American Caty McNally also made the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Czech Tereza Martincova. In first-round action, No. 4 seed Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia beat Czech Vendula Valdmannova 6-2, 6-3 and No. 5 Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland defeated Austria’s Sinja Kraus 6-4, 6-0. Britain’s Katie Boulter was a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 survivor against Czech Lucie Havlickova.
–Field Level Media
