Six days after escaping her native Ukraine with her 15-year-old sister Ivanna, Dayana Yastremska cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa on Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Open 6e Sens Metropole in Lyon, France.
Yastremska had three aces in the match that took just 65 minutes. After the win, she draped herself with a Ukraine flag and fans gave her an emotional round of cheers, well aware that the 21-year-old’s homeland has been invaded by Russia.
“I really want to win the matches for my country,” Yastremska said in her on-court interview. “This tournament is very emotional for me but I’m very happy with the win today. I’m very happy that I’m here and in a safe place with my sister. I’m happy to do the things that I really love – playing tennis.”
Yastremska will next face fifth-seeded Jasmine Paolini after the Italian recorded a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch.
In other matches, Russia’s Vitalia Diatchenko knocked off third-seeded Swiss Viktorija Golubic 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4; No. 8 seed Shuai Zhang of China produced a 6-4, 6-4 win over Arantxa Rus of Netherlands and Caroline Garcia of France was a 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 winner over Martina Trevisan of Italy.
Abierto GNP Seguros
Top-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine needed nearly 2 1/2 hours to win her second-round match in Monterrey, Mexico, finally prevailing 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-2 against Bulgaria’s Viktoriya Tomova.
Next up for Svitolina is a quarterfinal match against fifth-seeded Camila Osorio of Colombia.
Sixth-seeded Nuria Parrizas Diaz topped Heather Watson of Great Britain 6-4, 7-6 (2) to set up an all-Spanish quarterfinal against fourth-seeded Sara Sorribes Tormo. China’s Qiang Wang beat Egypt’s Mayar Sherif 6-0, 6-7 (2), 6-3 to earn a matchup against second-seeded Leylah Fernandez of Canada. The Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova will square off with Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia after eliminating Croatia’s Petra Martic 6-4, 6-2.
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