Ons Jabeur performed a great comeback win against Jelena Ostapenko and advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating the Latvian 1-6 7-5 6-3. The tournament's third seed turned this match over, as being a set and break down. Ostapenko followed the blow after dominant win over Emma Raducanu in opening round, and started the match against the world's number 4 in a great style, dictating the terms on the court and crushing her opponent with aggresive strikes. Second set started also well for the Roland Garros 2017 champion, who moved up in front, gaining a break advantage in 3rd game. Ostapenko was holding her serves great until the 10th game, when she could serve for the match. It was first poor game of the Latvian within own serve, as she got broken to 15 and Jabeur came back to this match despite having too many arguments before that. Ostapenko struggled in her following service game, as Jabeur put the pressure again and grabbed the set after utilizing 4th setpoint. Third set was tight with both players being composed on serve, but it was Jabeur who won the war of nerves in decisive games. The Tunisian broke her opponent for the score 4-2. Ostapenko could brake back in following game, but Jabeur defended one breakpoint and extended lead to 5-2. The Latvian defended two matchpoints within own serve in 8th game, but did not deny the victory of pre-match favorite, as Jabeur closed this match during own service game, utilizing her 5th matchpoint. Whole the match was just 2:05 hours long, but it was an exciting battle which could end up in the favour of both players, especially in the end of third set, when both had their chances, but it was Ons Jabeur who occured to be better in decisive points today.
Cori Gauff opened her clay season in style, surviving a rollercoaster match against Veronika Kudermetova. The tournament's fifth seed had no much time to switch between the surfaces, as she was competing in Billie Jean King Cup's qualifiers just 4 days ago, being a part of successful campaign for US team, who defeated Austria in Delray Beach. The tie was played on outdoor hard court, so Gauff had little time to adjust after traveling from the American continent, especially that she was not playing any clay court match in 2023 before.
The task for the start was surely not easy, despite the fact that Kudermetova struggles a lot in recent weeks. The Russian approached Stuttgart after three first loses in a row, all in straight sets. The opening set could predict the next tough day in the office for Kudermetova, as she lost 6 games in a row, just after a decent start and moving into 2-1 lead with a break advantage. Gauff was on fire and did not stop with this streak, adding another 3 games at the start of second set. Barely anyone could expect the turnover here, but it was still just a single break advantage, which turned out to be not enough, as Gauff dropped the level of his serving performance, allowing her opponent to gain 3 breaks in a row and come back to the match, as Kudermetova won second set 6-4. The deciding set was no less dramatic, as both players approached the tiebreak despite multiple breaks on the road. 6 out of 12 games were won by the receivers. Gauff was much closer to finish this match earlier, as she was leading 5-3, but not managed to serve for the match, despite being 30:0 up in her service game. The younger of players did not give up though, and dominated the tiebreak, winning it all 6-2 4-6 7-6(3) after 2:47 hours of play. The match was full of momentum switches, but Gauff was the one to have all the keys to cross the finish line earlier, allowing her opponent to come back, both in second and third set. Interestingly, it was Kudermetova who created more chances, producing 16 breakpoints to just 10 made by Gauff. The American was much more efficient there, converting 8 out of her chances, while Kudermetova made just 7 out of 16 points into breaks.
Aryna Sabalenka defeated Barbora Krejcikova 6-2 6-3 in the top clash of second round in Stuttgart, showing an ultimate performance against the Czech, who was a first player to defeat the current Australian Open champion this season. It was fourth match-up between those two and third win in a row for Sabalenka, who played the highest level tennis today. The world's number two was dominating from the start and showed a flawless serving performance, scoring 10 aces to just one unforced error, facing no single breakpoint at all during whole the match. She was putting the instant pressure on her opponent, producing 8 breakpoints throughout the match. Even though Krejcikova was not playing so bad and showed up well in some rallies, it was much less than enough to defeat Sabalenka today. It is a big statement win from the Belarusian, but it is worth to keep in mind, that her last victory over Krejcikova in Miami was also scored in a dominant style. Despite this, Sabalenka suffered a shocking upset from Sorana Cirstea in further round, so she needs to stay composed before the quarterfinals match, where the opponent will be emerged from the all-Spanish clash between Paula Badosa and Cristina Bucsa.
Elena Rybakina has opened her clay season well, defeating the home player Jule Niemeier 7-5 6-3. The Kazakh needed just 90 minutes to score her first clay win in 2023. Some trouble came up for the world's number 7 came up after start of second set, when she got broken by the German. Niemeier could even double her break advantage, as having two breakpoints in 5th game, but Rybakina cleared the danger and won all the following games since then. Beatriz Haddad Maia is the next opponent for the reigning Wimbledon champion.
Karolina Pliskova scored a valuable win over Maria Sakkari, who became second eliminated seed of this tournament, just after yesterday's lose of Daria Kasatkina. It was a very comfortable win for the Czech, who needed just 72 minutes to eliminate the current world's top 10 player with a score 6-2 6-3. Pliskova was on the front foot from the start of this match. Second set was quite more tight, as both players were holding their serves confidently up until 7th game, when Pliskova gained the break advantage and extended it two games later, closing the match during her opponent's service game. The former world's ranking leader produced 10 breakpoints, utilizing 5 of them, while facing just one from the side of Sakkari, who did not manage to win any single service game of Pliskova today. Donna Vekic is next for the Czech in a really intriguing second round's match-up tomorrow.
