No. 2 seed Solana Sierra was one of three seeded competitors who coasted into the quarterfinals of the SP Open with straight-set wins on Wednesday in Sao Paulo.
The Argentine, who sits 82nd in the WTA rankings, disposed of 15-year-old Nauhany Vitoria Leme Da Silva from Brazil 6-0, 6-4 in 63 minutes, rallying from a 4-3 deficit in the second set to finish off the victory. Britain’s No. 6 seed Francesca Jones will face Sierra in the quarterfinals after beating Whitney Osuigwe 6-4, 7-6 (6).
No. 3 seed Alexandra Eala of the Philippines finished the day’s competition with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Argentina’s Julia Riera. She’ll face Indonesia’s Janice Tjen, who followed up her first-round upset of French No. 7 seed Leolia Jeanjean with a 53-minute 6-1, 6-0 thrashing of Martina Okalova of Slovakia.
French competitor Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah also advanced into the third round with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Mexico’s Victoria Rodriguez. The other three quarterfinal competitors will be determined during Thursday’s competition.
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Italy’s Lucrezia Stefanini denied American Sloane Stephens a win in her first match since February, beating her 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 in a first-round match in Mexico.
Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open winner, has been sidelined for the last seven months due to a foot injury. Leading 5-3 in the second set when play was suspended on Tuesday, Stephens finished off the second set Wednesday, but won just 35 percent of her service points in the deciding set, losing her serve three times.
Nikola Bartunkova became the first player to punch her ticket to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Darja Vidmanova in an all-Czech matchup.
In evening action, No. 1 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium and No. 2 Veronika Kudermetova of Russia are set to play their first matches of the event after receiving first-round byes. Mertens faces France’s Elsa Jacquemot, while Kudermetova will take on Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra.
–Field Level Media
