World No 1 and defending champion Iga Swiatek progressed to the quarterfinals of the WTA Stuttgart clay-court tournament by beating Elise Mertens in straight sets on Thursday, her ninth win in nine career matches at the French Open warm-up event.
Swiatek beat the unseeded Belgian 6-3, 6-4 to maintain her bid to capture a third successive title in the German city and be handed the keys to a third luxury car from the sponsors after also winning the tournament in 2022.
"There's always space for a Porsche. If not, we'll make it. I'll build an underground garage," said Swiatek after playing her first clay-court match since lifting the French Open title last June.
Perfect start 🤩@iga_swiatek stays unbeaten in Stuttgart, getting past Mertens in her opening match of the week!#PorscheTennis pic.twitter.com/aLGIFbxbuE
— wta (@WTA) April 18, 2024
The Pole burst out of the blocks to set up a 5-1 lead in the first set, before going 0-30 down but recovering to serve out the set.
Swiatek was broken early in the second but served her way back into the set, winning with a forehand on her fourth match point after Mertens had saved the previous three.
"This is not an easy tournament. Everyone is really motivated to win that car," Swiatek added.
The top seed will face former US Open champion Emma Raducanu for a place in the semifinals.
Clear your schedule for Friday 🤙#PorscheTennis pic.twitter.com/fktLuh8tIN
— wta (@WTA) April 18, 2024
Raducanu, who helped Britain qualify for the Billie Jean King Cup finals last weekend, took down Czech teenager Linda Noskova 6-0, 7-5.
That one feels good 😅@EmmaRaducanu defeats talented teen Noskova to set up a quarterfinal match against Iga Swiatek 👀#PorscheTennis pic.twitter.com/6i6BRtjPdh
— wta (@WTA) April 18, 2024
It will be a first quarterfinal appearance for Raducanu in 19 months. She has been plagued by a raft of injuries since her 2021 Grand Slam breakthrough and missed much of last season.
Earlier Thursday, Elena Rybakina beat Veronika Kudermetova 7-6 (7/3), 1-6, 6-4, continuing her strong form in 2024.
The Kazakh world No 4, who has already claimed titles at Brisbane and Abu Dhabi in 2024, beat the Russian in two hours 33 minutes.
"I know I have my weapon, my serve. I know I can always serve it out in tough moments. Not always, but this is a strength," Rybakina said.
Hanging Tough ⭐
— wta (@WTA) April 18, 2024
Elena Rybakina prevails in the end, defeating Kudermetova in 3 sets to reach her 7th quarterfinal of the season!#PorscheTennis pic.twitter.com/RsBRO22BSD
Rybakina will be playing in her seventh quarterfinal of the season on Friday where she will face Jasmine Paolini who put out Ons Jabeur 7-6 (10/8), 6-4.
Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova defeated Anastasia Potapova 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 in her last 16 clash.