World’s number one Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) advanced to the fourth round of the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open hard-court tennis tournament with a prize money of 5,152,599 USD. Aryna Sabalenka needed three hours and 12 minutes to defeat 30th-seeded and former US Open champion Emma Raducanu (Great Britain) by 2-1 (7:6(3), 4:6, 7:6(5)) in a hard-fought match.
Emma Raducanu rallied from a 2:4 deficit to 5:4 in the first set, but Aryna Sabalenka equalized and then prevailed in the tiebreak. The British tennis player made a decisive break to take a 4:3 lead in the second half and reached 6:4, sending the match into a third set. It was an extremely even affair, with neither player breaking the other, and Aryna Sabalenka earning her second match point in the tiebreak.
Her opponent in the quarterfinals will be Spanish player Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, who eliminated Taylor Townsend (USA) by 2-0 (6:4, 6:1).
The 12th-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova (Russia) defeated Maya Joint (Australia) by 2-0 (6:4, 6:3). In the fourth round, she will face Anna Kalinskaya (Russia), who eliminated Amanda Anisimova (USA) after 2-0 (7:5, 6:4).
Sorana Cirstea (Romania) advanced to the fourth round after overcoming Yue Yuan (China) by 2-1 (6:7(2), 6:4, 6:4) and will face the third-seeded Iga Swiatek (Poland).
