Sunday, July 3, 2022

The draw is chaotic, but the Minister of Happiness* prevails

*Ons Jabeur, seeded third at Wimbledon, won a high quality round of 16 match against 24th seed Elise Mertens today. Jabeur's 7-6( 9), 6-4 victory books her a spot against Marie Bouzkova, who defeated Caroline Garcia in straight sets. Bouzkova had already knocked out 7th seed Danielle Collins and talented grass competitorAlison Riske-Amritraj, in addition to delivering a bagel to Ann Li in the second round.

In the meantime, Germany's Jule Neimeier defeated Great Britain's Heather Watson. It was Neimeier, you'll recall who upset (while delivering a bagel) 2nd seed Anett Kontaveit in the second round. 

Finally, 12th seed Alona Ostapenko lost to Tatjana Maria, a 34-year-old mother of two who--well into her career--changed from a two-handed to a one-handed backhand. Maria saved two match points before defeating Ostapenko 5-7, 7-5, 7-5.

The remaining players in the round of 16 draw will compete tomorrow, with all eyes on the contest between 4th seed Paula Badosa and 2019 champion Simona Halep.

Two German and two French players wound up in the round of 16. One of the Frenchwomen, Garcia, is out now, but the two Germans--Neimeier and Maria--remain.

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