Elise Mertens advances to Cincinnati quarterfinals

photo by Daniel Ward

Elise Mertens' 2018 season continues to gain momentum in Cincinnati, where--today--she defeated 3rd seed Sloane Stephens and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Western and Southern Open. Mertens has a really good serve, not that fast and powerful, but often placed with precision. She weathered a first set tiebreak, in which each player had chances to take the set, but it was Mertens who grabbed it with a 10-8 score. The second set was easier for her, as she elevated both her first and her second serve, and won the match 7-6, 6-2.

Petra Kvitova (photo by Daniel Ward)

Mertens' next opponent will be a woman whom she has never played--Petra Kvitova. Kvitova, who defeated Serena Williams Monday night, played an efficient match against Kiki Mladenovic, whom she defeated 6-4, 6-2. After the match, the Czech star said that she wasn't that pleased about her serve, but was very happy with her returns. (Asked what she did during the many long rain delays, Kvitova said that she "slept, read, ate--nothing.")

Another player whose winning ways were on full display today was Arnya Sabalenka. Sabalenka, already the victor over Jo Konta and 2016 champion Karolina Pliskova, went a step farther today and took out 6th seed Caroline Garcia. In each of her Cincinnati matches, Sabalenka has lost the first set. Her next opponent will be Madison Keys, who had her second victory over Angie Kerber tonight.

Madison Keys (photo by Daniel Ward)

Kerber was totally dominant in the opening set, winning it 6-2. The second set was much tighter, and went to a tiebreak, in which Kerber lost her way. Toward the end of the final set, Keys broke the German star (and 2016 runner-up), and went on to win the match.

Lesia Tsurenko also had another good day. After taking defending champion Garbine Muguruza out of the tournament yesterday, she beat Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets today.

Simona Halep (photo by Daniel Ward)

Two matches left over from last night were also completed today, with world number 1 and top seed Simona Halep defeating Ajla Tomljanovic, and Amanda Anisimova defeating Petra Martic.

There was hope that today would be a catch-up day after yesterday evening's rain, but it didn't work out that way. My much anticipated doubles clash between the world number 1 team of Krejcikova/Siniakova and Mertens/Schuurs could not be played.

In fact, it's raining as I write this. Anett Kontaveit and Kiki Bertens are in a second set (Bertens won the first), and two doubles matches had commenced.