Field Level Media
04 May 2021, 07:10 GMT+10
Spain's Paula Badosa came from behind to advance to the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open on Monday, beating Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova 6-7 (0), 7-6 (3), 6-0.
After each player broke serve a total of five times through the first two sets, Badosa cruised though the third set in 33 minutes. Sevastova had only two break points in the final set, both in the first game, and Badosa saved them both.
"I got so emotional after the match because ... of playing home and showing the people the level and that I can win matches," Badosa said. "I'm the last Spanish (player) here, so it makes me a little bit more proud. I know the crowd are pushing me a lot."
Badosa's quarterfinal opponent will be eighth-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, who advanced when Tunisia's Ons Jabeur was forced to retire because of a right thigh injury. Bencic led 7-6 (2), 4-3 when the match ended.
"I felt terrible for her," Bencic said. "She's such a nice person. We are good friends. You never want this to happen to anyone. For sure I wish her the best recovery. But overall I thought we played a great match.
"There was no breaks at all in the whole match. I think her serving was great. I think it was a good level. I'm definitely happy with how I played and everything. But for sure I didn't want to win like this."
Another quarterfinal match will feature top-seeded Ashleigh Barty of Australia and ninth-seeded Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic. Barty topped 14th-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland 7-5, 6-4, and Kvitova got past Russia's Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Kvitova said, "Definitely it was a tough one. ... I would say whole match I was not relaxed, but calm. ... That's how I managed to bring it to the win."
Kvitova has won five of nine career matchups against Barty.
"Always playing Ash, it's great challenge," Kvitova said. "It will be great matchup. I really will enjoy it. I'm really looking forward for it."
LOpen 35 de Saint-Malo
Oceane Dodin upset top-seeded Alize Cornet 7-5, 6-7 (8), 6-1 in an all-French opening-round match at Saint-Malo, France.
Dodin managed to overcome 12 double faults while hitting just one ace. Cornet had five aces and six double faults.
Other first-round winners were third-seeded Alison Van Uytvanck of Belgium, fifth-seeded Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland, Spain's Aliona Bolsova, Ukraine's Kateryna Kozlova and France's Harmony Tan.
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