After rain washed play on Wednesday at the Libema Open in S’Hertogenbosch, all round-of-16 matches had to be postponed to Thursday at the Dutch event. There were a few upsets while the top seeds made it through to the quarter-finals.
Aryna Sabalenka, the no. 1 seed defeated The Netherlands’ Arianne Hartono in the second-round match, 6-2, 6-3 in 73 minutes. Sabalenka won 25 of the 29 first-serve points she landed in, accounting for 86%. In comparison, Hartono won only 57% of her first-serve points. Sabalenka lost her serve only once in the match and converted four of the seven break points she had on her opponent’s serve.
In the quarter-finals, Sabalenka will play Alison Van Uytvanck. Van Uytvanck took out eighth seed Elise Mertens in a Belgian derby, 6-2, 6-3 in an hour and 11 minutes. Van Uytvanck saved five of the seven break points she faced while converting five break points on Mertens’ serve.
Libema Open: Shelby Rogers keeps the American flag flying
Belinda Bencic, the no. 2 seed in the draw, came through a tough second-round clash against Anna Kalinskaya, 7-6(2), 6-4 in an hour and 36 minutes. The Swiss came from down a break in the opening set and saved two set points in the 12th game before pocketing the set in the tie-break. In the second set, Bencic grabbed the match on her second match point on Kalinskaya’s serve in the 10th game.
Bencic will play sixth seed Veronika Kudermetova next, looking for a place in the semi-finals. Kudermetova advanced to the quarter-finals after her opponent, Anna Blinkova retired in their match. Kudermetova had dropped the opening set 5-7 but was leading Blinkova 5-2 in the second set when the latter decided to stop the match.
Meanwhile, Cathy McNally upset fourth seed Tamara Zidansek in their round-of-16 match. The American needed only 61 minutes to clinch a 6-1, 6-1 victory. McNally will play seventh seed Ekaterina Alexandrova who ousted Anhelina Kalinina, 6-4, 6-2.
McNally’s fellow American, Shelby Rogers took down the third seed Elena Rybakina in their second-round clash at the Libema Open. Rogers won 6-2, 6-4 and will play Kirsten Flipkens for a chance to make it to the semi-finals. The Belgian defeated another American, Ann Li, 6-1, 6-1 in just 47 minutes.