Elise Mertens Advances in Singapore; Significant Upsets in Linz

Elise Mertens, the No. 2 seed from Belgium, demonstrated her resilience on Thursday at the Singapore Tennis Open by overcoming a tough first-set tiebreaker to defeat Germany’s Tatjana Maria with a final score of 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-1. Although Mertens found herself down 3-0 initially in the first set and ultimately lost the tiebreaker after leading 3-0, she corrected her strategy and dominated in the following sets, winning 11 of her 13 first-service points in the impressive final frame.

In other matches, fourth seed Xinyu Wang from China secured a convincing victory against Australia’s Maya Joint with a score of 6-4, 6-2, setting up a quarterfinal clash against Jil Teichman of Switzerland, who triumphed over Olivia Gadecki from Australia with a similar 6-4, 6-4 scoreline. Australian player Kimberly Birrell also found success, battling through a two-hour and fifty-minute match against American Hailey Baptiste, winning 6-7 (3), 6-3, 7-5, after saving nine out of eleven break points and dealing with Baptiste's powerful serve that included nine aces.

In Linz, Austria, the tournament saw a significant upset as Anna Blinkova eliminated No. 2 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, winning 6-4, 6-4. Blinkova displayed strong defensive skills by saving nine of fourteen break points and managing to break Svitolina's serve on seven occasions. In contrast, the top seed Karolina Muchova from the Czech Republic advanced with ease by defeating Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-2, 6-3, while the fourth seed, Ekaterina Alexandrova, and fifth seed, Dayana Yastremska, also progressed to the next round without dropping a set. Croatia’s Petra Martic edged No. 7 seed Elina Avanesyan from Armenia in a closely contested match, securing a 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 victory.