The top two seeds were eliminated in the second round of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo as Paula Badosa and Caroline Garcia both crashed out on Wednesday.
Badosa was defeated in just 78 minutes by Zheng Qinwen, with the number one seed going down 6-3 6-2.
It was 19-year-old Zheng's first completed win against a top 10 opponent in her career, and she said afterwards: "Even though the score was like this, there were a lot of emotions for me in this match and I'm very proud of myself. It's not a surprise. I always knew I had the level, I just had to make it."
Second seed Garcia hit 27 aces in her match against Zhang Shuai, the most in a single WTA-level contest since Kristyna Pliskova against Monica Puig in Luxembourg 2019 (28), but it was not enough as she lost two tie-breaks to lose 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5).
Number three seed Garbine Muguruza had more success as she beat Greek opponent Despina Papamichail 6-4 6-2, while Claire Liu also eased to a win against Elise Mertens 6-4 6-1, and will play Zheng in the quarter-finals.
Eighth seed Elena Rybakina suffered a first-round exit as she lost to Liudmila Samsonova 6-2 6-4, who will play Xinyu next.
The seeds fared better over at the Korea Open, with Emma Raducanu sealing a first-round win against Moyuka Uchijima 6-2 6-4, while Magda Linette also eased past Arianne Hartono, 6-2 7-5, though fifth-seed Varvara Gracheva was knocked out by Anna Blinkova 6-4 7-6 (7-1).
In the second round, third seed Ekaterina Alexandrova is through after beating Han Na-lae 6-1 6-3, as is Lin Zhu of China following her straightforward 6-1 6-3 victory against India's Ankita Raina.
There were also wins for Tatjana Maria against Kimberly Birrell, and 17-year-old Andorran Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva against eighth seed Rebecca Marino.
Torino 0-1 Inter: Brozovic strike sees Nerazzurri warm up for Champions League final in style
Inter warmed up for the Champions League final with a 1-0 win over Torino to cap off their Serie A campaign.
The Nerazzurri head to Istanbul to face Manchester City on June 10, but the Coppa Italia winners had league business to attend to on Saturday.
Marcelo Brozovic's excellent strike proved the difference, with substitute goalkeeper Alex Cordaz making a superb save to preserve Inter's lead in the second half.
Inter will face an altogether tougher test in a week's time, but for now, Simone Inzaghi can reflect on a job well done in Serie A.
Romelu Lukaku sparked what had been an insipid first half into life when he crafted space on the edge of Torino's area and saw a low strike deflected just wide.
Stefan de Vrij headed straight at Vanja Milinkovic-Savic from the resulting corner, but Torino's goalkeeper was beaten in the 37th minute.
Given space and time on the edge around 20 yards out, Brozovic punished Torino with a fine left-footed strike that nestled in the bottom-right corner.
Brozovic turned provider shortly after the restart, only for Roberto Gagliardini to head wide from close range.
Ex-Inter forward Yann Karomah almost made an instant impact from the bench when he forced a fine save out of Samir Handanovic, who subsequently received an ovation when he made way for Cordaz in the 65th minute.
Cordaz made a stunning save soon after, reacting brilliantly to parry Antonio Sanabria's effort wide and ensure Inter ended their domestic campaign with a victory.
Casper Ruud and Holger Rune close on French Open rematch after third-round wins
Casper Ruud and Holger Rune are closing in on a French Open rematch after both reached the fourth round on Saturday.
The pair contested a heated late-night quarter-final 12 months ago, with Ruud triumphing in four sets before Rune accused him of a “lack of class” for celebrating in his face, something the Norwegian denied.
They have played once since, in Rome a couple of weeks ago, when Rune gained some revenge, and will be favoured to clash in the last eight once again.
View this post on InstagramRuud went on to reach his first grand slam final here last year and then repeated the feat at the US Open, although he came out on the losing side both times.
This season has been a struggle by contrast but there are signs the 24-year-old is starting to find his form and he recovered from a set down to beat China’s Zhang Zhizhen 4-6 6-4 6-1 6-4.
“My level is getting better,” said Ruud. “I still feel like there are things I can improve and I can make less errors than I have done in some moments in my matches.
“So I still feel like there is a level that I haven’t played yet that I can bring out, and I will need to bring out now going into the second week, for sure.
“I’m very happy with being through the first three matches. It’s tough. For me this year it’s been much more pressure, obviously, compared to last year.”
Last year’s tournament was Rune’s breakthrough, and the young Dane has maintained his momentum, breaking into the top 10 and twice beating Novak Djokovic.
The 20-year-old is particularly strong on clay and he swatted aside Argentinian qualifier Genaro Alberto Olivieri 6-4 6-1 6-3.
Rune has only had to play two matches so far having been given a walkover by Gael Monfils in the second round.
“Luckily I haven’t used too much unnecessary energy during the tournament so far,” he said. “I’m in the fourth round and I can play better, so it’s a good thing. But obviously the matches are going to get harder and harder from now so I have to step up also.”
Next he faces Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo, who is through to the fourth round of a slam for the first time after upsetting eighth seed Taylor Fritz 3-6 6-3 6-4 7-5.
American Fritz was booed onto court after his shushing of the crowd on Thursday night but that had turned to cheers by the time he walked off.
Cerundolo was joined in the last 16 by countryman Tomas Etcheverry, who knocked out 15th seed Borna Coric 6-3 7-6 (5) 6-2, while 27th seed Yoshihito Nishioka ended the run of Daniil Medvedev’s conqueror Thiago Seyboth Wild in a five-set tussle.
Mirra Andreeva feared French Open disqualification for ‘really stupid move’
Mirra Andreeva admitted she feared being defaulted from the French Open during her third-round defeat by Coco Gauff in their teenage battle in Paris.
It was one of the most anticipated clashes of the tournament so far, with Gauff taking on a player younger than her for just the third time in her senior career.
Sixteen-year-old Andreeva swept through qualifying before dropping just six games in her first two rounds at her debut grand slam.
Gauff and Andreeva’s combined age is younger than Novak Djokovic, and the 19-year-old American looked like she could lose to a player her junior for the first time.
But Andreeva was unable to sustain the level she showed in winning the first set and bowed out with a 6-7 (5) 6-1 6-1 defeat.
There were moments of youthful petulance from Andreeva that she will need to stamp out, though, particularly an incident late in the tie-break when she swiped a ball angrily into the crowd.
She earned a code violation but was fortunate she did not hurt a spectator, which could have seen her disqualified.
“Right after I thought that it was a really stupid move from me, because it was not necessary to do that,” she said. “It was really bad what I did. I had thoughts like this (a potential default), but he just gave me a warning.”
The Russian is undoubtedly a player of huge potential and she more than matched Gauff during a high-class first set full of fierce shot-making and court craft.
Andreeva admitted she let her head drop, saying: “It was a tough first set. We broke each other a lot of times. I was just playing.
“It’s not enough to win one set to win a match. I was trying to play but something didn’t work out and I got disappointed, upset, and not really was thinking about the match. I was thinking about my mistakes. I went too deep in this.
“After the first set I won, I realised that I can really win this match. Then I got a little bit nervous not to lose this opportunity.”
Andreeva is limited in the number of tournaments she can play because of her age and expects her next event to be Wimbledon qualifying – providing her UK visa comes through in time.
Although Russian and Belarusian players are allowed to compete this year, Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka has also spoken about a delay in receiving her visa.
If it was not for her nationality, Andreeva could have been a strong candidate for a Wimbledon wild card based on her performance in Paris.
“I didn’t play on grass yet,” she said. “It can be my first time. I’m excited about it because I have never tried it. So, if I can go there, we will see what I can do.”
Gauff reached her first slam singles final here 12 months ago and broke into the top 10 but this season has been tricky and she will take confidence from the way she turned the match around.
Gauff knows better than anyone the position Andreeva is in, and she said: “Mirra’s super young and she has a big future. I remember I was here playing at 16 years old so she has a lot to look forward to. I’m sure you’ll see a lot more matches between us.”
The tournament lost one of its title favourites before the start of the day when Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina withdrew through illness, revealing she had been struggling with a virus for two days.
The 23-year-old appeared to be the biggest obstacle to Iga Swiatek reaching another final having won all three matches between them this season.
The world number one was in ruthless form on Philippe Chatrier, defeating an opponent 6-0 6-0 for the fourth time in her career and first at a grand slam.
China’s Wang Xinyu was the unfortunate recipient as Swiatek hit top form at Roland Garros – four of the six sets she has played so far this year have now been bagels.
Swiatek has gained a reputation for the number of sets she wins easily, and social media was awash with talk of her ‘bagel factory’.
“I don’t want to really talk about that,” said the 22-year-old. “I really get why people do that, because it’s fun and tennis is entertainment and everything. But, from the players’ point of view, I want to be respectful to my opponents.”
Meanwhile, the seventh prime-time night session on Sunday will belatedly feature a women’s match for the first time, with Sabalenka’s clash against former finalist Sloane Stephens selected for the slot.
Organisers have again come under fire after only picking one women’s match across the fortnight last year.
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