Third-seeded Canadian Victoria Mboko overcame a 4-1 deficit in the deciding set Thursday to advance to the Hong Kong Tennis Open quarterfinals.
Mboko swept the last five games to defeat Alexandra Eala of the Philippines 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours, 27 minutes. Mboko balanced eight aces with nine double faults and saved six of 10 break points to set up a meeting with No. 6 seed Anna Kalinskaya of Russia, a 6-1, 6-1 winner against China’s Shuai Zhang in 51 minutes.
Top seed Belinda Bencic and unseeded Himeno Sakatsume of Japan also moved into the quarterfinals with victories in straight sets. Bencic beat China’s Yafan Wang 6-2, 6-2 and Sakatsume defeated Hong Kong hopeful Eudice Chong 6-2, 6-1.
Jiangxi Open
No. 3 seed Alycia Parks posted an unusual 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 win against Slovenia’s Kaja Juvan to reach the quarterfinals in Jiujiang, China.
Parks committed 11 double faults but converted six of nine break chances to finish in one hour, 38 minutes. She’ll face Russian Anna Blinkova, who knocked out No. 6 seed Anna Bondar of Hungary 7-6 (3), 7-5.
No. 8 seed Anastasia Zakharova of Russia was also eliminated, falling 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-2 to Dominika Salkova from the Czech Republic. Salkova’s quarterfinal opponent will be China’s Zhuoxuan Bai, who outlasted countrywoman Hanyu Guo 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 in two hours and 17 minutes.
Chennai Open
Lanlana Tararudee converted 7 of 13 break-point chances on her way to stunning No. 1 seed Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the Round of 16 in Chennai, India.
Tararudee benefited from Sonmez’s five double faults and advanced to face Russian Polina Iatcenko, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Poland’s Katarzyna Kawa.
The other upset of the day saw Slovakia’s Mia Pohankova take down French ninth seed Diane Parry 6-3, 6-4. No. 3 seed Donna Vekic of Croatia, No. 4 seed Janice Tjen of Indonesia, No. 7 seed Kimberly Birrell and Arina Rodionova of Australia and Joanna Garland of Taiwan also advanced.
–Field Level Media
