Mutua Madrid Open: Elise Mertens knocks out Simona Halep to reach last-eight

Elise Mertens ousted third seed Simona Halep in the pre-quarter-final at the Mutua Madrid Open. The Belgian, seeded 13th in the draw, came from a set down in the match that lasted two hours and 34 minutes. At the end of the play, the score read 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in favour of the Belgian.

In the opening set, Mertens wasn’t able to make good of the chances she had on Halep’s serve. However, she turned around her game in the latter two sets and surmounted a break across each set to get the better of the world no. 3.

In her post-match press conference, Mertens went on to note, “I want to be on court as long as possible, especially after losing the first set. I didn't think too much about the score, I was just thinking about the way I should play to improve myself.”

Mutua Madrid Open: Upsets mark the day's play

Mertens will play former doubles partner and the fifth-seeded Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-final. The Belarusian defeated Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-2 in just 52 minutes in the third round.

Speaking about facing her former teammate with whom she won the Australian Open this year, Mertens said, “She's on fire, she's making a lot of angles and winners," said Mertens of their upcoming tilt. "I'll just try to put as many balls in the court as I can and try to take over a little bit when there's a shorter ball. She played [Ashleigh] Barty last week, and I'm definitely going to watch a little bit of that match, because Barty also likes slice and everything to mix it up.”

After Halep’s exit, Sabalenka’s the highest seed left in the bottom half the draw in the Spanish capital.

Meanwhile, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Karolina Muchova will play each other for a spot in the semi-final. Against seeds, the Russian and the Czech played matches that went the distance to make it through to the quarter-final at the Mutua Madrid Open. Pavlyuchenkova upset 11th seed Jennifer Brady 7-5, 6-7(8), 6-3 in two hours and 45 minutes. Muchova, meanwhile, ousted the 16th-seeded Maria Sakkari 6-0, 6-7(8), 7-5 in two hours and 35 minutes.

Photo Credit: Elise Mertens Twitter

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