WTA San Jose: Vekic tops Azarenka. Amanda Anisimova and Saisai Zheng win
World no. 23 and one of the most promising young stars on the WTA Tour Amanda Anisimova is through to her fifth quarter-final of the season, toppling Madison Brengle 6-2, 6-2 in swift 54 minutes. It wasn't the best performance from Anisimova who lost half of the points in her games, suffering four breaks from as many chances offered to Brengle and overcoming that deficit in style, claiming staggering 75% of the return points to secure eight breaks from 12 opportunities! Amanda raced into a 5-1 lead with three straight breaks, wasting a set point in game seven before closing it with another break a few minutes later. They traded four breaks in the first five games of the second set before Anisimova rattled off the last three games, sealing the deal with the eighth breaks from as many return games at 5-2 to find herself in the quarters. Saisai Zheng lost the last five matches before San Jose, finding the form here in California and reaching the final eight with a dominant 6-2, 6-0 victory over the 8th seed Danielle Collins in 61 minutes.
Dropping 11 points in seven service games, Zheng never faced a break point and stole 60% of the returns, creating 11 chances and delivering five breaks to leave Collins far behind. Donna Vekic is through to the sixth quarter-final of the year, beating Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-3 in an hour and 24 minutes in their first meeting on the Tour. The Croat had the upper hand in the pivotal moments, saving five out of eight break points and stealing Victoria's serve five times to cross the finish line first. The Belarusian was off to a flying start, breaking Donna in games one and five to move 4-1 up before Vekic took charge, rattling off five straight games to steal the opener and gather the momentum ahead of the second set. Azarenka broke at love at the beginning of the second part of the match and that wasn't enough to keep her safe, getting broken in games two and eight to find herself 5-3 down, allowing Donna to claim the victory after saving two break points in game nine and stay on the title course.
A qualifier Kristie Ahn is through to her first WTA quarter-final, ousting the 3rd seed Elise Mertens 6-3, 6-3 in an hour and 34 minutes, delivering better tennis in the crucial moments to oust the better-ranked opponent and prolong her San Jose journey. Both players had ten break chances up for grabs and the American fended off six of those to mount the pressure on Mertens that proved enough to secure the win for her. The Belgian never found the rhythm behind the initial shot, giving away 60% of the points and getting broken seven times, five in a row in set number two to propel the American through and end her run in the second round.
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2yx7eDj
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