Halep’s hold on No. 1 ranking receives unexpected boost
Onus on Wozniacki to catch up after injured Keys cedes match to rival
Simona Halep’s hold on the No. 1 ranking received a boost when American opponent Madison Keys withdrew from their third-round match at the Italian Open yesterday due to a right rib injury.
Halep needed to reach the quarter-finals and progress further than No. 2 Caroline Wozniacki to hold on to the top spot, and she has accomplished the first task.
Wozniacki was facing 15thseeded Anastasija Sevastova in a late match on the red clay of the Foro Italico.
Keys also withdrew from the doubles competition, where she was partnered with Venus Williams. Last year in Rome, Halep rolled her ankle in the final and lost a lead and the championship to Elina Svitolina.
Halep will next play either US Open champion Sloane Stephens or seventh-seeded Caroline Garcia.
Svitolina advances
Svitolina also reached the quarter-finals, overcoming a poor start to beat 14th-seeded Daria Kasatkina 0-6, 6-3, 6-2. She’ll next face either former No. 1 Angelique Kerber or Maria Sakkari of Greece.
Jelena Ostapenko, who is preparing to defend her title at Roland Garros, rallied past Johanna Konta 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Venus Williams fell to her second defeat in a week to Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit losing 6-2, 7-6.
Fognini shines
In men’s action, Fabio Fognini beat Peter Gojowczyk 6-4, 6-4 to reach his first quarterfinal in 11 appearances at his home tournament.
The temperamental Fognini slammed his racket midway through the second set and received a warning from the chair umpire but otherwise held his composure to follow up an impressive win over Dominic Thiem a day earlier.
His behaviour was reminiscent of world No. 5 Karolina Pliskova, who lost her cool over a line call on Wednesday and bashed a hole into the umpire’s chair with her racket after suffering a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 defeat to Sakkari.
Pliskova’s twin sister Kristyna, who also ranks in the world’s top 100, slammed Mrozinska on Twitter. “The worst I have ever seen @wta and I hope this lady Marta Mrozinska will never ever judge any match of me or Karolina again #blacklistforever,” the 26-year-old posted.
Fognini’s next opponent will be Rafael Nadal, who beat Canadian teenager Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-1.