No. 2 seed Amanda Anisimova and No. 6 seed Iva Jovic swept their Round of 16 matches on Wednesday in London, setting up a showdown in the quarterfinals of the HSBC Championships.
Anisimova, who received a bye into the Round of 16, made quick work of Germany’s Laura Siegemund in a 6-1, 6-3 victory that took just 66 minutes. A finalist at this event along with Wimbledon in 2025, Anisimova dropped just four points behind her first serve. She also saved her only break point and broke Siegemund’s serve four times, including the match’s final point.
Her next opponent, Jovic, also cruised to a quick victory, taking out Alexandra Eala of the Philippines, 6-2, 6-2 in one hour, 17 minutes. Jovic committed four double faults but also notched four aces and broke Eala’s serve five times in seven chances.
No. 3 seed Victoria Mboko of Canada, Serena Williams’ doubles partner at this event, sustained a left knee injury against Czech Karolina Pliskova, who advanced to the quarterfinals when Mboko was forced to retire. Williams, who is attempting a comeback at age 44, and Mboko are scheduled to face Leylah Fernandez and Siegemund in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
The round of 16 match between Croatia’s Donna Vekic and Czech Marie Bouzkova was postponed due to rain and darkness and will be finished Thursday. Vekic led 6-5 in the opening set when play was suspended.
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In a match that started Tuesday but was delayed by rain, unseeded Caty McNally rallied to upset fellow American Emma Navarro, the No. 4 seed, 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 at ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands.
Navarro twice surrendered a break advantage in the first set but secured the set after earning a break in the 10th game. In the second set, however, McNally — ranked No. 59 in the world — broke Navarro three times and didn’t face a single break point. Rain interrupted the third set with McNally leading 2-1. Leading 5-4, McNally served out the match to complete the upset.
McNally in the Round of 16 will face Argentina’s Solana Sierra, who also rallied after dropping the first set to defeat fellow unseeded player Lois Boisson of France 6-4, 5-7, 6-3. Other winners included No. 5 seed Anastasia Potapova of Austria, Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic and Belgium’s Hanne Vandewinkel.
The match between Panna Udvardy of Hungary and Daria Snigur of Ukraine was suspended with Udvardy leading 4-2 in the third set and will be finished Thursday. Snigur took the opening set 6-4, then Udvardy rallied to even the match with a 6-3 win in the second set.
–Field Level Media
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