Halep knocked out of Madrid Open by Mertens

World No 3 Simona Halep was dumped out of the Madrid Open on Tuesday, losing 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 in the last 16 to Belgian Elise Mertens.

Romania's Halep, who won the Madrid title in 2016 and 2017, is still yet to reach a WTA Tour final this season and this was her earliest exit in the Spanish capital since a 2015 first-round loss.

Halep had sailed through the first two rounds on the Madrid clay without dropping a set but she ended up second best in a match which yielded 15 breaks of serve.

Halep served 10 double faults in the match, Mertens nine.

A first #MMOPEN quarterfinal for the Belgian!

???? @elise_mertens comes from a set down to upset the two-time Madrid champion ?? pic.twitter.com/QVP2P5dVVX

— wta (@WTA) May 4, 2021

Halep, a two-time Grand Slam champion and former world No 1, was twice a break up in the final set at 3-1 and 4-3 but finally succumbed after just over two and a half hours of play.

In the quarterfinals, 13th seed Mertens will meet her doubles partner, Belarusian seventh seed Aryna Sabalenka, who dispatched American Jessica Pegula 6-1, 6-2 in just 52 minutes.

Frighteningly good ??

???? @SabalenkaA sails into the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Pegula.

Next faces Mertens for a spot in the #MMOPEN last four! pic.twitter.com/oyDAAM1QTC

— wta (@WTA) May 4, 2021

World No 1 Ashleigh Barty will meet ninth seed Petra Kvitova in the quarters, while eighth seed Belinda Bencic is up against Spaniard Paula Badosa, ranked 62 in the world.

The final last-eight tie will see Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova play Karolina Muchova, who needed four match points to beat Maria Sakkari 6-0, 6-7 (9/11), 7-5.

Russian Pavlyuchenkova edged out Australian Open runner-up Jennifer Brady 7-5, 6-7 (8/10), 6-3 despite missing a match point in the second set.