Ash Barty overcame Tamara Zidansek and her own disjointed performance to reach the third round of the Madrid Open on Saturday.
The Australian triumphed 6-4 1-6 6-3 after nearly two hours on court to extend her winning streak on clay to 13 matches.
Barty will face reigning French Open champion Iga Swiatek in the next round, the 19-year-old having eased past Laura Siegemund 6-3 6-3 in a contest where she failed to take 10 match points before getting over the line.
Barty endured a more troubled contest with Zidansek, landing just 51 per cent of her first serves.
Zidansek lost the opener after a wayward forehand at 4-4 but was authoritative in the second as she won a set against a top-10 player for the first time.
However, a series of errors early in the decider allowed world number one Barty to open up a lead she did not relinquish. Barty was champion at Roland Garros in 2019 but skipped last year's Paris grand slam, so the clash with Swiatek will pit together the two most recent French Open winners.
"[It was] a really tough match," Barty said after edging out Zidansek. "I felt my margins were a little bit off. I made a lot of errors. I think I was missing in the right way, but still just a foot or two here or there makes a big difference. I felt like there were probably too many loose ones for me today.
"I don't think there was a lot in it by any means. We had a lot of close games in the first set, early in the second set. In the third, as well, there were a lot of close games. I think the response early in the third was good. I was a bit more aggressive, was able to bring the match back on my terms."
Petra Kvitova set up a meeting with Veronika Kudermetova – who knocked out defending champion Kiki Bertens – after overcoming long-time rival Angelique Kerber 6-4 7-5.
Kerber got the opening break in each set, only to drop serve in the next game, with Kvitova ultimately rewarded for powerful hitting as she ended the contest with 33 winners to her opponent's 14.
"I served very well, especially in the important points," said Kvitova, who leads the head-to-head record 8-6. "I think we really played very well. She even served very well, as well. It was tough to attack her serve."
Fifteenth seed Johanna Konta suffered a straight-sets loss to Anastasija Sevastova, while Ons Jabeur fought back to beat Sloane Stephens.
Boris Becker ‘working hard with the authorities’ to return to Wimbledon in 2025
Boris Becker says he is “working hard with the authorities” to return to the UK and Wimbledon in 2025.
The three-time Wimbledon men’s singles champion was deported from the UK in December 2022 after serving eight months of a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for hiding £2.5m of assets and loans in a bankruptcy fraud case.
Becker cannot return to the UK until October 2024 at the earliest following his deportation, but the 56-year-old German plans to return to the tournament he says is “in my DNA” as soon as possible.
“Wimbledon has been my favourite tournament as a player, coach and commentator,” Becker said at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Madrid.
“It’s unique, you can’t compare it.
“I lived in Wimbledon a long time so I’m working hard with the authorities to have all the applications ready to be back for next year. We’re working on 2025.
“It’s a part of my life. It’s in my DNA, you can’t deny that.”
Asked if he would be back in the Wimbledon commentary box, Becker replied: “I hope so.”
Becker has not been involved in tennis since stepping down as Holger Rune’s head coach at the start of February.
The pair spent less than four months together, but in that time the 20-year-old qualified for the ATP finals in Italy.
::The 25th Laureus World Sports Awards take place on Monday evening in Madrid. To find out more, and follow the ceremony, visit www.laureus.com
Former Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza announces retirement
Former Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza has announced her retirement from tennis.
The 30-year-old Spaniard won the French Open in 2016 before lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish on Centre Court the following summer but she had not played a competitive match since January 2023.
At a press conference where she was announced as a Laureus Ambassador, Muguruza said: “If 25 years ago, when I started hitting my first tennis balls, someone had told me that I would become a professional tennis player, that I would fulfil my dream of winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon, that I would become number one in the world and win the WTA Finals, I would have thought this person was crazy.
View this post on Instagram“Tennis has given me a lot in this first part of my life. It has been a fantastic journey in which I have experienced unique situations. I have travelled all over the world and experienced many different cultures.
“I am tremendously grateful to all the people who have helped and accompanied me throughout this chapter, because without them I would not have been able to get here.
“I have grown and matured in a very different way than what can be considered normal, and now I am ready to start a new chapter in my life, which will surely be linked in some way to tennis and sports.
“I hope that my collaboration with Laureus Sport for Good is the beginning of many more projects in which I can dedicate myself and help young people through sport.”
Muguruza turned professional in 2012 and reached her first grand slam final three years later at Wimbledon, where she was beaten by Serena Williams.
But the big-hitting Spaniard took revenge in 2016 when she stunned Williams in the final at Roland Garros, and a year later she beat Venus Williams to add the Wimbledon trophy to her collection.
She climbed to the top of the rankings in September 2017, where she stayed for four weeks, but consistency was not Muguruza’s strong point and she slipped down the standings before a resurgence in 2020.
Muguruza reached her fourth grand slam final at the Australian Open, losing to American Sofia Kenin, and she returned to the world’s top three at the end of 2021 after winning the WTA Finals for the first time.
But the next season saw her plummet back down the rankings and her retirement comes as no surprise given her long hiatus from the sport.
Emma Raducanu’s run at Stuttgart Open ended by world number one Iga Swiatek
Emma Raducanu’s progress in the Stuttgart Open was halted in straight sets by world number one Iga Swiatek.
The Polish four-time grand slam champion, in her 100th week on top of the ATP world rankings, prevailed 7-6 (2) 6-3 to set up a semi-final showdown with Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina.
It was, however, an encouraging quarter-final performance from Raducanu, who has slipped to 303 in the world rankings after a torrid 2023.
Raducanu came in to the contest on a high after winning four matches in a row for the first time since her US Open title in 2021 and raised confidence levels were reflected in the opening exchanges.
Several booming returns from the 21-year-old Briton turned a 0-40 deficit into an immediate break of serve, but Swiatek levelled after edging a second game that featured seven deuces.
That see-saw battle set the tone for a marathon 70-minute opening set which produced plenty of high-quality ground strokes from both sides of the net.
The match went with serve from that point, with Raducanu superbly holding her nerve at 5-4 and 6-5 down to force the first set to a tie-break.
Swiatek completely dominated the tie-break though, winning the first four points before closing it out 7-2.
Raducanu was quickly in trouble again in the second set, falling 2-0 behind and covered in clay after losing her footing on the baseline.
She continued to fight and fended off break points in her next two service games to stay in the match.
But Swiatek kept up the pressure to finally end Raducanu’s resistance to move in to the last four.
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