Look who's back!

👋 Final Eight

An out of this world 6-1, 6-2 performance against No. 8 seed Sloane Stephens earns @SvetlanaK27 her first Premier QF in two years.#CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/g85ewwruMi

— Western & Southern Open (@CincyTennis) August 15, 2019

 

It took Svetlana Kuznetsova only 52 minutes to overcome 8th seed Sloane Stephens at the Western & Southern Open today. The Russian veteran totally dominated Stephens, whose first and second serve win percentages for the match were 41 and 30. Kuznetsova is into the quarterfinals of a premiere event for the first time in two years. To get to the third round, Kuznetsova defeated 11th seed Anastasija Sevastova and rising star Dayana Yastremska.

Also winning today were Maria Sakkari and top seed Ash Barty, who was taken to three sets by Anett Kontaveit, who led 5-3 in the third set. 3rd seed Karolina Pliskova defeated qualifier Rebecca Peterson 7-5, 6-4, and Venus Williams defeated Donna Vekic, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Hsieh Su-Wei, known for her creativity, did not disappoint in her match against world number 1 Naomi Osaka. Osaka prevailed, 7-6, 5-7, 6-2, but not until she had been forced through several hoops by her tricky opponent. The stands were packed, the sidewalk was packed, and the adjoining court was occupied by people standing on top of the highest seats so that they could see the action. In my opinion, the best thing to come out of this crowd gathering was that more people got to see the amazing Hsieh cast her spell.