Advertisement
Belgian Elise Mertens dramatically ruined Jessica Pegula’s hopes of a deep run in Paris. The 28th seed won 6-1, 6-3 to advance to the 4th round for the third time. Pegula, who has only 2 WTA Tour championships to her record, has never advanced past the quarter-final stage of a Grand Slam tournament. “I’m very happy to win in two sets. She’s a very good player,” said Mertens. The winner of the all-Russian tie between Anastasia Potapova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will face the former Australian Open semi-finalist.
Daria Kasatkina, a Russian who reached the semi-finals last year, defeated American Peyton Stearns in under an hour by scores of 6-0, 6-1.
On Sunday, the ninth seed will take on either compatriot Anna Blinkova or Elina Svitolina for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Svitolina, a Ukrainian, made it to the 3rd round in her first Grand Slam match since the Australian Open in 2022.
She also won the title in Strasbourg last week, defeating Blinkova in the final and she is now on a seven-match winning streak.
After that match, Svitolina refused to shake her Russian opponent’s hand and it’s possible that she’ll maintain the same stance on Friday.
