WTA Madrid Open 2021: Day 8- Sabalenka, Mertens, Pavlyuchenkova, all book their seats in the Quarter-finals, Halep and Sakkari bid farewell to the tournament

WTA Madrid Open 2021: Day 8- Sabalenka, Mertens, Pavlyuchenkova, all book their seats in the Quarter-finals, Halep and Sakkari bid farewell to the tournament

Aryna Sabalenka Elise Mertens Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova

Day 8 of the WTA Madrid Open saw some unexpected results like the loss of Simona Halep and Maria Sakkari but also saw Aryna Sabalenka and Elise Mertens announce their candidacy for the Madrid Crown. 

Sabalenka dispatches off Pegula in style 

Aryna Sabalenka brought her A-game to the table and dispatched off Pegula to book her place in the Quarters. Pegula had no answers to Sabalenka’s power and precision, and even before she could blink, the first set was gone 6-1 in twenty-five minutes.

The racquet head speed of Sabalenka is such that if she connects it generally is a winner. She closed out the match in two sets, 6-1 6-2. Her opponent in the Quarters is Elise Mertens. 

FS Video

Mertens knocks out Halep 

With each passing tournament, the brand value of Mertens the singles player is rising. Halep had sailed through the first two rounds without dropping a set but against Mertens she ended up second best in a match. Elise Mertens battled back from a break down in both the second and third sets to take Halep out in the third round, 4-6 7-5  7-5.

The match itself was riddled with mistakes, Halep served ten double faults compared to the nine from Mertens, and it took tenacity and belief on the part of Mertens to eventually seal it. Mertens will next go up against Aryna Sabalenka. 

Pavlyuchenkova registers hard fought win over Brady

Pavlyuchenkova ended up showing her superiority on clay courts and sent home the finalist from the Australian Open Jennifer Brady. In a hard fought match that lasted 2hours 25 mins, Pavlychenkova ran out winner in three sets. She won 7-5 6-7 6-3. Pavlyuchenkova will face Karolína Muchová in the Quarters. 

Muchová battles past Sakkari 

Muchová started the match well, blanking Sakkari to win the first set 6-0. In the second set, Sakkari fought back gallantly, winning the set via tie-breaker 7-6( 11-9). They played out 20 games before Sakkari took the second set.

In the third and deciding set, Muchová sealed the fate of Sakkari by winning it 7-5. Muchová won the match in three sets  6-0 6-7 7-5. Her opponent in the Quarters is Pavlyuchenkova.

YouTube video

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