Shapo upsets Nadal in Rome
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek stretched her winning streak to 25 matches by beating Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-1 in the last 16 of the Italian Open in Rome on Thursday.
Poland’s Swiatek, who has put together the longest winning run since Serena Williams racked up 27 victories in 2015, will face 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu of Canada in the quarter-finals of the clay court event on Friday.
Swiatek was down 0-3 in the opening set as she found herself under pressure from Azarenka’s return game, but the 20-year-old bounced back by taking the next five games.
With Swiatek serving for the set at 5-3, former world No. 1 Azarenka saved four set points and broke to get back on serve.
Swiatek eventually broke Azarenka on her fifth set point to finally seal the set.
The 2020 French Open champion dominated the second set, breaking Azarenka four more times to wrap up the match in just under two hours. Andreescu reached her first WTA 1000 quarter-final in 14 months by defeating qualifier Petra Martic 6-4, 6-4.
The 21-year-old Canadian, who returned to action in Stuttgart last month following a six-month mental health hiatus, is making her debut in Rome.
Third seed Aryna Sabalenka defeated Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-4 to reach the last eight in Rome for the first time.
On the men’s side, Canadian Denis Shapovalov posted a shocking 1-6, 7-5, 6-2 upset against Rafa Nadal.
The 35-year-old struggled physically toward the end of the contest, raising doubts over his fitness ahead of the French Open.
Shapovalov, who won 17 of the last 20 points, will face Norway’s No. 5-seeded Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime, the No. 8 seed, breezed past American Marcos Giron 6-3, 6-2. Auger-Aliassime will face a much tougher test in the quarter-finals, drawing No. 1 seed Novak Djokovic. The Serb thumped Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-2.
In the other quarter-finals, No. 2 seed German Alexander Zverev draws Chile’s Cristian Garin, while No. 4 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece gets No. 10 seed Italian Jannik Sinner.