World number two Aryna Sabalenka denied unseeded Egyptian Mayar Sherif the biggest victory of her career when the Belarusian came back from a set down to win their Madrid Open quarter-final 2-6 6-2 6-1 on Tuesday.
Sabalenka was not at her best and made 37 unforced errors in the match, but the Australian Open champion bounced back midway through the second set to win 10 games in a row and take control.
Sherif, who has won just one WTA 250 title in her career, was gifted the first game of the match, winning all her points through unforced errors from Sabalenka to break the Belarusian before building a 3-1 lead.
Sabalenka saved a set point at 5-1 but Sherif, playing in her first WTA 1000 quarter-final after beating three seeded players, served out to take the opening set.
The Egyptian took the lead in the second set too before Sabalenka, who was a break down, finally found her groove to break four times and force a decider.
The 2021 champion then showed no mercy in the third as she raced into a 5-0 lead before Sherif got on the board. But that only delayed the inevitable as Sabalenka sealed victory with a winner down the line.
In the men’s draw, Russian Aslan Karatsev rattled second seed Daniil Medvedev with his powerful groundstrokes to upset his fellow Russian and clinch a 7-6(1) 6-4 win to reach his first Masters 1000 quarter-final.
Karatsev, ranked 121 in the world, has now beaten world number three Medvedev twice in his career with both wins coming on clay.
Tsitsipas beats Baez to reach last-16
After edging Dominic Thiem in a third-set tie-break to open his Mutua Madrid Open campaign, Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece again owned the clutch moments with a win against Sebastian Baez and advanced to the last 16 at the Madrid Open.
In a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 victory, Tsitsipas improved to 8-2 on clay this season as he continues his bid to return to the semifinals at the ATP Masters 1000 event for the third time. Tsitsipas will next face home favourite Bernabe Zapata Miralles.
In other major action, Taylor Fritz, chasing his maiden ATP Tour title on clay demonstrated his recent improvement on the surface Monday with a scintillating 6-1 7-6(4) third-round triumph against Cristian Garin.
The Monte-Carlo semifinalist Fritz will take on Chinese Zhang Zhizhen as he chases his second ATP Masters 1000 title. The 26-year-old Zhang, who stunned Canadian player Denis Shapovalov in the second round, pulled off an even bigger upset against world No. 13 Norrie, rallying from one set down to win the match 2-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2), reports Xinhua.
Khachanov beats Rublev to seal quarter berth
Karen Khachanov kept his cool and beat Andrey Rublev 7-6(8), 6-4 in the fourth-round clash to seal a quarterfinal berth at the Madrid Open, here on Tuesday. The 10th-seeded Khachanov took control of a closely fought encounter by rallying from 4/6 to claim the first-set tie-break and he carried that momentum to a one-hour, 42-minute victory on Manolo Santana Stadium.
Khachanov saved the only break point he faced and won 80 per cent (35/44) of points behind first serves to take a 3-2 lead in his ATP head-to-head series with Rublev.
