WTA Tour wrap: Andreescu pulls out of quarters as Rus upsets Pegula

THE Internationaux de Strasbourg has continued with Day 4 rolling around already, and six matches playing out across the first and second rounds following a huge opening couple of days.

Four matches played out to complete the Round of 32, with the biggest upset of the lot a 6-4 6-4 effort from Arantxa Rus over second seed American, Jessica Pegula. Rus required just under 90 minutes to complete the clean sweep, forcing service errors from the second seed who finished the match with eight double faults to her name.

Seventh seed Shelby Rogers survived a marathon encounter against compatriot Christina McHale, eventually claiming the 7-5 6-7(6) 7-5 victory in three hours and 23 minutes. Rogers was error-ridden on serve but still managed to claim the overall ascendancy to win 51.5 per cent of the total points, and appeared much more consistent compared to McHale.

Meanwhile, wildcard Harmony Tan and qualifier Jule Niemeier both reigned supreme, winning through to the second round following straight sets victories.

Looking to the Round of 16, and top seed Bianca Andreescu completed her second round victory over Belgian Maryna Zanevska, before immediately withdrawing from her quarter final with an injury.

“I’m super happy with the win today,” Andreescu said post-match. “I will be pulling out of my next match, because I did feel a little bit of an ab tear, and I don’t want to push it at all for Roland Garros. I don’t want to take any risks. Nothing serious though. It’s a little discomfort.”

Despite pulling out of her next match, Andreescu comfortably disposed of Zanevska, claiming the 6-1 6-4 victory in just 65 minutes. The second Round of 16 match for the day played out between eighth seed Magda Linette and hometown hopeful Alize Cornet, which saw the Pole take out the first and an early ascendancy in the second before Cornet pulled the pin, suffering from a right hip injury to complete the game 7-6(2) 3-0.

“I felt a really sudden pain in the first game of the match, so it’s really unlucky,” Cornet said.

“But you know me, I kept playing, I kept trying, and I was even in the position to win the [first] set … But every time I was running, it was quite difficult, and in the second set it got a little bit worse.”

INTERNATIONAUX DE STRASBOURG ROUND OF 32 RESULTS: 

Arantxa Rus (NED) defeated [2] Jessica Pegula (USA) 6-4 6-4
[7] Shelby Rogers (USA) defeated Christina McHale (USA) 7-5 6-7 7-5
Harmony Tan (FRA) defeated Alison Van Uytvanck (BEL) 6-4 6-4
Jule Niemeier (GER) defeated Diane Parry (FRA) 6-4 6-3

INTERNATIONAUX DE STRASBOURG ROUND OF 16 RESULTS: 

[1] Bianca Andreescu (CAN) defeated Maryna Zanevska (BEL) 6-1 6-4
[8] Magda Linette (POL) defeated Alize Cornet (FRA) 7-6 3-0 RET

Picture credit: Internationaux de Strasbourg/C’est qui Maurice?/Michel Grasso

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