Western e Southern Open: Naomi Osaka moves into QF, Aryna Sabalenka ousted

Fourth seed Naomi Osaka is the highest seed left in the Western & Southern Open draw. The fourth seed who took a wildcard into the event advanced to the quarter-finals on Tuesday with a straight-sets win over Ukrainian 16th seed Dayana Yastremska.

Osaka won 6-3, 6-1 in 70 minutes. Yastremska had five break points on Osaka’s serve but Osaka saved them all before routing her opponent. This the former world no. 1’s second quarter-final of the season, after the Brisbane International. She will take on 12th seed Anett Kontaveit in the quarters.

The Estonian beat Marie Bouzkova 6-3, 6-3 in an hour and 19 minutes in their pre-quarterfinal clash.

Western & Southern Open: Jessica Pegula's upset showdown

Earlier in the day, qualifier Jessica Pegula caused one of the biggest upsets of the day by beating fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka in their round-of-16 match. Pegula claimed a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 victory after two hours and six minutes of play.

This is the first time Pegula has made it to the quarter-finals of a big event such as this. Overall, this is the fourth quarter-final of the season for the American, across a variety of WTA tournaments. She first reached the final of the ASB Classic in Auckland (lost to Serena Williams), before reaching the quarters in the WTA 125K events in Newport Beach and Indian Wells.

Speaking with the press after the match, the world no. 83 said, “I think it’s really great, I’ve beat three really top players right now, Top 50 players, and that gives me a lot of confidence going into the quarters.  I’m definitely happy, but it doesn’t really feel like the quarters because I played qualifying – it kind of feels like it should be a final! But I definitely want to take this and use it as momentum going into the US Open.”

Before she makes her way into the US Open, Pegula first has a quarter-final challenger to tackle in the 14th seed Elise Mertens. The Belgian defeated Veronika Kudermetova in their round-of-16 match 6-2, 6-3 to reach the last eight at the Western & Southern Open.

Photo Credit: W&S Open Website

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