Top-seeded Paula Badosa of Spain and second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus were both eliminated from the Guadalajara (Mexico) Open Akron on Wednesday, in very different circumstances.
Badosa was forced to retire due to illness after losing the first set 6-2 to Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka in a second-round match.
“It’s really sad that Paula wasn’t able to finish the match,” Azarenka said. “I hope she recovers quickly. I’m sure we’re going to have a few more matches to play, so I’m looking forward to those.”
Sabalenka dropped her second-round match 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 to Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova. Sabalenka hurt her cause with 11 double faults, and she failed to take advantage of Samsonova’s inconsistent serving (42 percent first-serve rate).
In the tightest finish of the day, third-seeded Jessica Pegula of the United States edged Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8). Rybakina had three match points in the third-set tiebreaker, but Pegula ultimately prevailed on her second match point.
Other second-round winners included fifth-seeded Coco Gauff of the United States, eighth-seeded Veronika Kudermetova of Russia, 12th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 13th-seeded Madison Keys of the United States and 14th-seeded Danielle Collins of the United States. Italy’s Martina Trevisan, Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya, the Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova and the United States’ Sloane Stephens also advanced.
–Field Level Media