Swiatek beats Mertens, to face Raducanu in Stuttgart quarterfinals

Swiatek prevailed 6-3, 6-4 and will meet Raducanu in the last-eight, who bettered Linda Noskova 6-0, 7-5

Iga Swiatek celebrates defeating Belgium’s Elise Mertens at the WTA Tour in Stuttgart. | Photo Credit: AP

Top-seeded Iga Swiatek beat Elise Mertens 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the Porsche Grand Prix quarterfinals on Thursday.

The top-ranked Swiatek will face next Emma Raducanu, who knocked out Linda Noskova 6-0, 7-5.

Earlier, fourth-seeded Elena Rybakina battled her way into the quarterfinals in a roller coaster 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-4 victory over Veronika Kudermetova.

Rybakina managed to stave off three break points toward the end of the opening set and then took control of the tiebreaker. But her errors mounted in the second set as Kudermetova began to dominate.

Rybakina regained control in the decider and surged to a 4-1 lead before more errors allowed Kudermetova to level. But the Kazakh player rallied again to take a tight service hold and close out the match.

She will face Jasmine Paolini after the Italian upset seventh-seeded Ons Jabeur 7-6 (8), 6-4.

Sixth-seeded Markéta Vondroušová also reached the quarterfinals after seeing off Anastasia Potapova 7-6 (5), 6-1. The Wimbledon champion has lined up second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka.