Gauff, Sabalenka advance
STUTTGART (AP) — Coco Gauff battled her way to the quarterfinals of the Porsche Grand Prix on Wednesday, April 17, with a hard-fought 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 win over compatriot Sachia Vickery.
The 134th-ranked Vickery created 19 break points but could only convert seven of them against the world No. 3 in the second round. Gauff had 15 double faults in the match, but rallied from 4-2 down in the final set before winning in 2 hours, 26 minutes with her first match point.
Gauff, who received a first-round bye at the clay-court tournament, awaits the winner between No. 7 Zheng Qinwen and Marta Kostyuk.
Kostyuk earlier overcame former champion Laura Siegemund 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-4 in their firstround match.
The Ukrainian player twice served for the match in the second set only for Siegemund, who won the Stuttgart tournament in 2017, to take it to the third.
In the other second-round match Wednesday, second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka advanced when her opponent and close friend Paula Badosa retired at 3-3 in the third set with an apparent leg injury. Badosa had a medical timeout while leading at 5-4 in the second set and returned with strapping on her left leg.
“I feel so bad for her… I don’t have any emotions right now, I’m not happy, I’m not sad,” said Sabalenka, who advanced 7-6 (4), 4-6, 3-3, retired.
Emma Raducanu powered to a 6-2, 6-1 win over former topranked player Angelique Kerber in a first-round meeting of two players with wild cards for the draw. The 2021 U.S. Open champion goes on to meet Linda Noskova in the second round.