No. 1 seed Jessica Pegula advanced to the quarterfinals of the Mubadala Citi DC Open by defeating Peyton Stearns 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday in Washington.
Pegula, the fourth-ranked player in the world, is seeking her second title in Washington after winning her maiden WTA title there in 2019. She broke Stearns’ serve six times in 13 opportunities and won a whopping 24 of 39 first-return points (61.5 percent).
No. 2 seed Caroline Garcia of France won’t be joining Pegula in the quarters. Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk defeated Garcia 6-2, 6-3 in just 64 minutes on Thursday. Pegula will face Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the next round, while Kostyuk will face eighth seed and defending champion Liudmila Samsonova of Russia.
The last match in the round of 16, pitting fourth seed Maria Sakkari of Greece against Canadian Leylah Fernandez, was postponed from late Thursday to noon local time Friday due to rain. The winner will face seventh-seeded Madison Keys in a quarterfinal match.
Livesport Prague Open
Fourth seed Linda Noskova rallied past India’s Ankita Raina 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 in her native Czech Republic.
Noskova, who had to overcome 10 double faults and a measly 2-for-9 showing in break points saved, is the highest seed standing in Prague after the top three seeds all lost in the first round.
No. 6 seed Alize Cornet of France needed three hours and 17 minutes to beat Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi 7-6 (1), 5-7, 6-4. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia ousted ninth seed Xiyu Wang of China 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (6).
Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch led 4-0 when Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer retired just 18 minutes into their match. Japan’s Nao Hibino and the Czech Republic’s Tereza Martincova also advanced to the quarterfinals.
–Field Level Media
