Garbine Muguruza has eased her way to the quarter-finals at the Cincinnati Open after defeating Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-5, 6-1.
The French Open champion seemed destined for an easy match after racing to a 5-2 lead against the world No.18. Serving for the set, Muguruza encountered her first setback as her opponent broke back with relative ease to eventually level 5-5. The disappointment for the Spaniard soon disappeared as she once again took advantage of Pavlyuchenkova’s fragile serving to break for the second time in the match and seal the set.
The proceedings was more simple for Muguruza in the second set as she raced through to seal the 91-minute win. During her latest triumph, the world No.3 produced 21 winners compared to 22 unforced errors. Muguruza also benefited from 37 errors produced by her opponent.
“I’m so excited that I’m in the quarter-finals now and I’m happy about my performance today.” Muguruza said after her win.
“I think Anastasia is a very powerful girl, so I had to concentrate all the time and be focused.”
Muguruza will next play Timea Babos in the quarter-finals. The Hungarian upset world No.11 Dominika Cibulkova 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Babos’ win means that Olympic champion Monica Puig will not be seeded at the upcoming US Open.
Agnieszka Radwanska battled her way past Johanna Konta 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-0. The world No.5 was pushed to her limits during the first half of the match as Konta produced some impressive play. Despite Konta’s best efforts, it was not enough to deny Radwanska as she clinched the last nine games to move into the quarter-finals.
Shortly after her third round win, Radwanska paid tribute to her British rival and the performance that she produced.
“She’s a great player,” Radwanska said during her on-court interview. “We never played before, but I’ve seen many of her matches, and she’s played great tennis. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, and it was an exciting match playing together for the first time. I’m just so happy with the win.”
Radwanska faces last year’s Cincinnati runner-up Simona Halep in the last eight. The Pole narrowly leads their head-to-head 5-4.
.@CincyTennis Quarterfinals set! 👀
Pliskova vs Kuznetsova
Muguruza vs Babos
Radwanska vs Halep
Suárez Navarro vs Kerber— WTA (@WTA) 19 August 2016
