Paula Badosa advances to the next round at the Porsche Grand Prix after defeating Diana Shnaider. She now faces world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka in a highly anticipated match. The tournament sees strong performances and tough matches among top-ranked players.
Paula Badosa overcame Diana Shnaider with scores of 6-3, 6-4 at the Porsche Grand Prix on Monday, earning her a next-round match against her friend and the world’s No. 2 player, Aryna Sabalenka.
Despite the challenge, Shnaider managed to save four match points before Badosa capitalized on her fifth chance in the clay-court competition.
Throughout the match, Badosa’s 10 double faults gave Shnaider eight opportunities to break, but the 20-year-old Russian couldn’t convert any on Stuttgart’s center court.
Sabalenka has been the runner-up in her last three Stuttgart appearances, having lost to former No. 1 Ashleigh Barty in 2021 and to current No. 1 Iga Świątek in the 2022 and 2023 finals.
In other matches, Sachia Vickery of the United States overcame Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 7-6 (2), 7-5. Vickery is set to face another American, world No. 3 Coco Gauff, next.
Veronika Kudermetova of Russia triumphed over Barbora Krejčíková in a closely fought match, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, setting up a second-round clash with No. 4 Elena Rybakina. Kudermetova, who was down a break in the final set, rallied to win her first match point after a marathon 3 hours and 6 minutes—one of the longest matches ever recorded in Stuttgart.
Gauff, Sabalenka, Świątek, and Rybakina all enjoyed first-round byes. The tournament features eight of the top 10 women players.
Świątek aims to make history in Stuttgart by becoming the first three-time champion since Maria Sharapova’s streak from 2012-14. She will start her campaign against either Elise Mertens or Tatjana Maria.
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