American Sloane Stephens claimed her fourth successive victory over former world number one Victoria Azarenka as Sloane advanced to the 16th round for the Madrid Open. The 26 year old, who is currently number eight in the world, was broken twice by Azarenka during their game – now ranked 52nd in the world – and pushed the match to a deciding set.
29 year old Belarusian Azarenka lost two break points at 1-1 and Stephens went on two win 6-4 2-6 6-2 in two hours and six minutes. Stephens is now expected to face the winner of the upcoming match between French Alize Cornet and Chinese Zheng Saisai.
Petra Kvitova, the current defending champion, has also won her latest match against world number 63 Kristina Mladenovic 6-3 7-6 (7-5) in an hour and 55 minutes. The Czech player, who is second seeded, is currently aiming for a fourth title on Caja Magica clay, and will be facing either Caroline Garcia or Sorana Cirstea.
Seventh seeded Kiki Vertens, along with Anastasija Sevastova recorded straight wins over Jelensa Ostapenka and Mihaela Buzarnescu. In the men’s doubles, British Kyle Edmund, who is set to played tenth seeded Fabio Fognini for their upcoming singles, recently teamed up with Liverpool player Neal Skupski to win against French duo Jeremy Chardy and Gilles Simon 6-2 6-3. Britain’s Dom Inglot, who had partnered with Indian Rohan Bopanna, lost their straight sets, while Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram also lost their doubles game.
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