Rogers Cup: Simona Halep eases into last eight in Toronto
- by Florence Jennings
- in Sport
- — Aug 12, 2019
"I feel like today I did a good job on court, and I'm sure that it's going to be much better day by day". "I wasn't sure what would come, if it was going to be hard or soft or a victor or what so it was definitely a challenge for me".
In most cases, ambition is a good thing.
Williams will get a chance to build on her late-summer hardcourt season and exact some revenge on Friday when she faces world No. 2 Osaka in the quarterfinals.
"I'm not a crier", she said, "but. thank you all".
Trailing 3-5 after an early break in the first set, Barty won three straight games before Kenin held to force the tiebreaker.
After breaking back for 2-3, Andreescu promptly went three break points down (which she saved mainly through Bertens' profligacy).
Alexandrova broke Williams again to open the second set, but the United States star pulled level in the sixth game and broke again in the 12th to advance after 91 minutes.
"It feels more like I'm showcasing my skills to her, like, 'Look what I can do.' You know what I mean?" "I think she just played really well". I still have doubles today.
No. 6 seed Karen Khachanov of Russian Federation defeated the Montreal teenager 6-7 (7), 7-5, 6-3 in third-round action.
Andreescu reveals what she told Williams during their hug
Andreescu and Serena were both mic'd up, and you can hear the former ask if Serena was okay as she embraced her in a hug. The Rogers Cup win would be Andreescu's second professional win of her career, and she handled it with class.
Elsewhere, Japan's Naomi Osaka moved a step in the direction of regaining her global number one ranking after her opponent Tatjana Maria retired at 6-2 down.
Williams committed 18 unforced errors in the first set, a backhand into the bottom of the net seeing her drop the opener.
The Mississauga, Ont., native had played almost five hours of tennis over the first two days of the tournament, needing three sets to defeat Daria Kasatkina on Wednesday night, and three against fellow Canadian Eugenie Bouchard in the first round Tuesday.
That will change on Thursday when Bertens, the world No. 5 who is seeded fifth here, and Andreescu, the world No. 27 who is unseeded in Toronto, clash on Thursday afternoon on Centre Court at the Aviva Centre. She needed three sets to defeat Daria Kasatkina on Wednesday night, and three against fellow Canadian Eugenie Bouchard in the first round Tuesday.
Osaka's total income grew to $24.3 million, driven mainly by her off-court earnings, soaring to an estimated $16 million from $1.5 million a year ago, but the Japanese still missed the cut for Forbes' top 100 best-paid athletes list.
There was disappointment for Greek fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, however, as he lost 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to Poland's Hubert Hurkacz.
Former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus was eliminated in the second round, losing 7-5, 7-5 to Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine.
Ukrainian Elina Svitolina took down Switzerland's Belinda Bencic in a clash of former Rogers Cup champions, with the 2017 victor and sixth seed defeating the 11th seed and 2015 victor, 6-2, 6-4. Bencic and Svitolina will face each other Thursday.
