Madrid Open: Early exits for Coco Gauff and Caroline Garcia at WTA 1000 clay-court event
Fifth seed Caroline Garcia and sixth seed Coco Cauff both came unstuck at the Madrid Open on Saturday, though World No 2 Aryna Sabalenka had no such problems.
Aryna Sabalenka.There were mixed fortunes for the top seeds at the Madrid Open on Saturday, with fifth seed Caroline Garcia and sixth seed Coco Cauff both coming unstuck while World No 2 Aryna Sabalenka marched on.
Gauff was soundly beaten by local favourite Paula Badosa, with the 26th seed thrilling the Madrid crowds with a 6-3 6-0 victory.
"I'm proud of myself," Badosa said after her win. "Matches like this ... in this court with all the crowd supporting you, it makes me feel like everything, it's worth it."
Garcia had similar problems against 59th seed Mayar Sherif of Egypt, going down 7-6 (7-2) 6-3.
It was Sherif's first ever victory over a top-10 player and came after she converted four of the seven break points she earned against the Frenchwoman.
There were no such problems for World No 2 Aryna Sabalenka, who advanced to the Round of 16 after defeating Colombia's Camila Osorio 6-4, 7-5.
"I'm happy with the win," Sabalenka said. "She's a great player and she fought for every point. It was a really great match."
"She can return, she can play long rallies, and she can come back to the match. I just kept telling myself I have to keep going for my shots and I just have to make her move because she's not going to move all day long. Once I will get this approach shot and I will be able to finish the point."
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