Swiatek beats Mertens and will face Raducanu in Stuttgart quarterfinals
Poland's Iga Swiatek celebrates defeating Belgium's Elise Mertens after the women's singles round of 16 tennis match at the WTA Tour in Stuttgart, Germany, Thursday April 18, 2024. Credit: AP/Marijan Murat
STUTTGART, Germany — Top-seeded Iga Swiatek beat Elise Mertens 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the Porsche Grand Prix quarterfinals on Thursday.
The top-ranked Swiatek will face next Emma Raducanu, who knocked out Linda Noskova 6-0, 7-5.
Earlier, fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina battled her way into the quarterfinals in a roller coaster 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-4 victory over Veronika Kudermetova.
Rybakina managed to stave off three break points toward the end of the opening set and then took control of the tiebreaker. But her errors mounted in the second set as Kudermetova began to dominate.
Rybakina regained control in the decider and surged to 4-1 before more errors allowed Kudermetova to level. But the Kazakh player rallied again to take a tight service hold and close out the match.
She will face Jasmine Paolini after the Italian upset seventh-seeded Ons Jabeur 7-6 (8), 6-4.
Sixth-seeded Markéta Vondroušová also reached the quarterfinals after seeing off Anastasia Potapova 7-6 (5), 6-1. The Wimbledon champion has lined up second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka.
Poland's Iga Swiatek serves to Belgium's Elise Mertens during the women's singles round of 16 tennis match at the WTA Tour in Stuttgart, Germany, Thursday April 18, 2024. Credit: AP/Marijan Murat
Eight of the top 10 ranked women are at the tournament, the main event in the first week of clay tournaments on the WTA Tour.
