Madrid (Spain) – WTA 1000 champion in Madrid two years ago, Tunisian Ons Jabeur remains firm in the competition and is already in the round of 16. This Saturday, she overcame a good test against Canadian left-hander Leylah Fernandez, who worked hard and made the 8th seed need three sets and 2h24 to triumph, closing the game with partials of 7/5, 2/6 and 6/ 4.
In the next phase, Jabeur will have another tough battle ahead, measuring forces with Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, who asserted her status as ninth favorite and beat Argentine Maria Lourdes Carlé in straight sets, scoring a double 6/3 in 1h29 of the match. It will be the fifth time that they have met, with two victories for each side in the four previous meetings.
Jabeur didn’t start well and lost the first three games, losing serve in the second, but she didn’t give up and continued fighting. In the fifth game, the Tunisian managed to return the break and then had to save two break-points to draw 3/3. After missing two more break chances in the ninth, in the 11th she beat Fernandez’s serve again and closed the opening set.
The Canadian was superior in the second half, especially after 2/2, when she won four games in a row, with two breaks, to tie the match. She managed six games in a row, as she also won the first two of the third set. After opening 4/2, Fernandez got stuck on the scoreboard, suffered two consecutive breaks and lost all the games until the end of the game.
Sakkari ends Stephens streak
Number 5 seed, Greek Maria Sakkari also secured her place in the round of 16 by ending American Sloane Stephens’ streak of seven consecutive victories with a victory in straight sets, needing just 63 minutes to score partials of 6/ 1 and 6/3 over the WTA champion from Rouen last week.
With the victory, Sakkari improved her record against the 2017 US Open champion to 2-0. This was the Greek’s 18th victory in her last 19 matches against players ranked outside the top 30. She dominated Stephens, winning 69% of the points with the withdrawal and 56% on return.
In the next round, the current number 6 in the world could face São Paulo’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, 11th favorite, who will face American Emma Navarro later this Saturday. Sakkari lost the three previous duels against the Brazilian and also has three games in her history with the tennis player from the United States, but with a 2-1 advantage.
