|
Sabalenka, the second seed from Belarus, ousted
No. 32 seed Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine 6-4, 6-2 in 86 minutes.
Sabalenka saved both break points she faced and won 75.8 percent
of her first-serve points (25 of 33) in order to defeat
Yastremska for the first time in three career meetings.
Sabalenka expressed her love for Rome -- lamenting that her
sugar-free diet during tournaments prevents her from sampling
the gelato. Sabalenka has advanced past the third round at Foro
Italico just once before, when she was a 2022 semifinalist.
"Every time I was losing here, I was so sad," Sabalenka said. "I
felt like I lost on the Grand Slam because it was one of the
dream tournaments for me to win. It's still one of my dream
tournaments."
No. 5 seed Sakkari of Greece defeated Ukrainian No. 30 seed
Anhelina Kalinina 7-6 (4), 6-0. Sakkari rallied from a 4-2 hole
in the first-set tiebreaker, winning five straight points before
dominating the second set.
No. 13 seed Collins kept her latest roll in a WTA 1000 event
going by beating No. 22 seed Caroline Garcia of France 6-3, 6-3
in 81 minutes. Collins had seven aces while overcoming eight
double faults, and she won 82.8 percent of first-serve points
(24 of 29).
"I feel like I match up well against (Garcia)," said Collins,
who has won 17 of her last 18 matches. "We always have great
matches, but something about the matchup works out very well for
me. I played really aggressive from the beginning and was able
to be consistent the entire way through."
Collins, who is retiring at the end of the season, is playing
some of the best tennis of her career; she was a quarterfinalist
at the Qatar Open and won the Miami Open and Charleston Open
before reaching the fourth round last month in Madrid.
Collins' next opponent will be Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu, who
knocked out No. 27 seed Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-0 in a 78-minute
match Sunday.
No. 9 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia overcame a dropped second set
to defeat Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-4, 5-7, 6-1. Her next
foe will be Slovakia's Rebecca Sramkova, who ousted Sofia Kenin
6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
No. 24 seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus got by Egypt's Mayar
Sherif 6-2, 6-7 (6), 6-3 in a nearly three-hour affair. No. 16
seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine defeated No. 23 Anna Kalinskaya
of Russia 6-3, 6-3.
--Field Level Media [© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be
published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely
responsible for this content. |
|
