Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) advanced to the third round of the WTA 500 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart with a prize money of 922,573 USD, defeating her good friend Paula Badosa (Spain), who retired at 3:3 in the third set due to a leg injury.
The Spanish tennis player had already taken a medical break in the second set when she was leading 5:4, but felt pain in her left leg. Aryna Sabalenka had won the first set by 7:6 (4), but Paula Badosa tied the sets after winning the second by 6:4.
“I feel bad because of her, I don’t have any emotions at the moment. I’m not happy, I’m not sad”, commented Aryna Sabalenka after the match.
The American Cori Coco Gauff also reached the quarterfinals of the tournament after defeating her compatriot Sachia Vickery by 2-1 (6:3, 4:6, 7:5).
Sachia Vickery, who is WTA No 134, had as many as 19 opportunities to break in the match, but converted only seven against the world’s number three. Cori Coco Gauff also made as many as 15 double faults on serve in the match. However, she made a comeback from 2:4 in the last part to win the match, which lasted 2 hours and 26 minutes.
Emma Raducanu (Great Britain) defeated Angelique Kerber (Germany) by 2-0 (6:2, 6:1) in the first match between the two.
