World No 3 Simona Halep was dumped out of the Madrid Open on Tuesday, losing 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in the last 16 to Belgian Elise Mertens, while D...
World No 3 Simona Halep was dumped out of the Madrid Open on Tuesday, losing 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in the last 16 to Belgian Elise Mertens, while Dominic Thiem claimed a straightforward win in his first match since March.
Romania’s Halep, who won the Madrid title in 2016 and 2017, is still yet to reach a WTA Tour final this season and this was her earliest exit in the Spanish capital since a 2015 first-round loss.
Halep had sailed through the first two rounds on the Madrid clay without dropping a set but she ended up second best in a match which yielded 15 breaks of serve. Halep served 10 double faults in the match, Mertens nine.
The former world No 1 was twice a break up in the final set at 3-1 and 4-3 but finally succumbed after just over two and a half hours of play.
In the quarter-finals, 13th seed Mertens will meet her doubles partner, Belarusian seventh seed Aryna Sabalenka, who dispatched American Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-2 in just 52 minutes.
World No 1 Ashleigh Barty will meet ninth seed Petra Kvitova in the quarters, while eighth seed Belinda Bencic is up against Spaniard Paula Badosa, ranked 62 in the world.
The final last-eight tie will see Anastasia...
