With the early retirement of the 2nd seed, Bianca Andreescu joins Leylah Fernandez within the WTA 500 quarter-finals in Tokyo, whereas Wang Xiyu survived a scare to maintain her title defence in tact in Guangzhou.
I’ve discovered myself in the same scenario numerous occasions, and it’s really the worst feeling possible. I genuinely want her a swift restoration. The season stretches lengthy forward, and we’re all navigating our private battles, however I hope this doesn’t weigh her down an excessive amount of. Bianca Andreescu
Tokyo | WTA 500 Toray Pan Pacific Open
Beatriz Haddad Maia, the 2nd seed from Brazil, was compelled to retire in Tokyo, sending Canadian Bianca Andreescu into the quarter-finals.
Haddad Maia was evidently in discomfort within the 2nd recreation when she produced 2 double-faults earlier than grimacing as she missed a playable forehand.
After discovering herself down 2 break factors, she referred to as for a medical time-out however might solely handle to play yet another recreation earlier than pulling out as a result of a left again damage at 0-3 down after simply 18 minutes of play.
At simply 24 years outdated, Andreescu has battled her personal slew of well being points all through her profession, with a big again damage protecting her off the tour for 9 months between August 2023 and Might 2024, and Tokyo marks solely her 2nd look since experiencing a knee damage at this 12 months’s US Open.
In her on-court interview, the Canadian, now ranked 159, expressed empathy for Haddad Maia.
“I’ve discovered myself in the same scenario numerous occasions, and it’s really the worst feeling possible,” she stated. “I genuinely want her a swift restoration. The season stretches lengthy forward, and we’re all navigating our private battles, however I hope this doesn’t weigh her down an excessive amount of.
“There are quite a few approaches to deal with adversity,” she later stated of her personal struggles. “Initially, coming to phrases with it was immensely troublesome—that was my best hurdle. Staying optimistic and refusing to give up was essential, as there have been many situations I felt like giving up. However my love for this sport fuelled my willpower to maintain pushing on.”
The previous US Open champion strikes into the Final 8 of a event at WTA 500 degree or above for the primary time since making the 2022 Rome quarters.
It’s her 2nd quarter-final of 2024, following her run to the ‘s-Hertogenbosch last on grass in June.
Andreescu will subsequent face both No 9 seed Katie Boulter, the British No 1, or Japanese qualifier Kyoka Okamura.
In different outcomes on Day 3, Andreescu’s fellow Canadian Leylah Fernandez additionally secured her place within the quarter-finals for the fifth time this season, after a hard-fought 6-0 3-6 7-5 win over Russian-born Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva.
Fernandez wanted 2 hours and quarter-hour to enhance her report to 2-0 in opposition to Gracheva.
In the meantime, No 6 seed Diana Shnaider from Russia triumphed over Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova in a convincing 76 minutes, 6-2 6-2, to advance to a gathering with Sayaka Ishii, the 19-year-old Japanese qualifier.
20-year-old left-hander Shnaider is now into her seventh tour-level quarter-final of the 12 months.
Ishii continued her exceptional run in Japan by defeating fellow qualifier Zeynep Sonmez from Turkey with a rating of 4-6 6-2 6-3, marking her first quarter-final look on the WTA Tour in solely her second predominant draw.
Defending Guangzhou champion Wang Xiyu survived a scare in opposition to wild-card Wei Sijia on Wednesday
WTAtennis.com
Guangzhou | WTA 250 Guangzhou Open introduced by AVAIR
Guangzhou Open defending champion Wang Xiyu survived a scare in opposition to fellow Chinese language wild-card Wei Sijia in Guangzhou, finally profitable by way of, 3-6 6-0 7-5.
Wang overturned a 3-5 third-set deficit to defeat Wei after 2 hours and 18 minutes to succeed in her third WTA quarter-final of 2024, and her first since reaching the Austin last in March.
Within the Final 8, the Chinese language will meet Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti, who saved 6 set factors within the first set to defeat Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian, 7-6(5) 6-4.
Having misplaced all 4 of her earlier conferences with Cristian, this was their first hard-court contest, and Bronzetti advances to her third tour-level quarter-final of 2024.
Serbia’s Olga Danilovic dropped only a single recreation to convincingly upset No 5 seed Diane Parry from France, 6-1 6-0, in simply 74 minutes, and make the primary tour-level hard-court quarter-final of her profession.
No 7 seed Jessica Bouzas Maneiro from Spain got here from 1-3 down within the first set to defeat Chinese language wild-card Shi Han, advancing to her first profession WTA quarter-final on the Guangzhou Open.
