Americans Coco Gauff and Madison Keys each posted victories on Saturday to advance to the Round of 16 at the Mutua Madrid Open in Spain.
The fourth-seeded Gauff had the easier time with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Ann Li, while the fifth-seeded Keys found herself in a fierce battle before notching a 7-5, 7-6 (3) triumph over 30th-seeded Anna Kalinskaya of Russia.
Gauff converted 5 of 9 break-point opportunities in her win. She won eight straight games at one point.
“Overall, a solid performance,” Gauff said. “I was just trying to stay steady. She was throwing in some errors today. I felt like I didn’t have to do too much, except push her to play more defense.”
Gauff has never reached the quarterfinals in Madrid. Her next opponent is Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic, who recorded a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2) victory over 16th-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil.
“It will be an interesting one,” Gauff said of the matchup with Bencic. “I know she hits a little bit more flatter and I hit heavier, so I would like to think it favors me more. But, obviously, she beat me last time in Indian Wells (in March) and she’s always a tough opponent.”
Keys saved 9 of 12 break points and converted 4 of 4 break opportunities while being pushed hard by Kalinskaya.
However, Kalinskaya failed to convert three match points in the second set, and Keys dominated the tiebreaker.
Keys will face No. 19 Donna Vekic of Croatia in the next round. Vekic racked up six aces and saved 3 of 4 break points while rallying for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over No. 11 Emma Navarro of the United States.
Vekic won 13 of her 14 service games.
Second-seed Iga Swiatek of Poland also moved on by delivering a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic.
The defending champion controlled the match against Noskova, who famously stunned Swiatek in the third round of the 2024 Australia Open.
Swiatek next faces No. 13 Diana Shnaider. The Russian steamrolled Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia 6-0, 6-0 in her third-round match.
Also, No. 7 seed Russian Mirra Andreeva took down No. 27 Magdalena Frech of Poland 7-5, 6-3.
Andreeva saved 4 of 5 break points and converted 4 of 6 break opportunities.
“I was very, very nervous,” Andreeva said on-court. “I still struggle to find my best tennis in Madrid. Super happy that I could manage to play consistent throughout the whole match.”
Andreeva will next face Ukraine qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva, who rallied for a 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-0 victory over No. 18 seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia.
–Field Level Media
