World No. 7 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine has advanced to the round of 16 of the prestigious WTA 1000 tournament on hard courts in the Chinese capital Beijing. The Ukrainian No. 6 eliminated No. 33 Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-4, 7-5 after an hour and 36 minutes of play.
Svitolina continues to compete without dropping a single set since the start of the competition. This was the sixth meeting between the two tennis players at the professional level, with the Ukrainian recording her fourth victory and third in a row over this opponent. In the battle for a place in the quarterfinals, Svitolina will face American An Li.
Mertens prevailed in a three-set thriller over Ostapenko
Jelena Ostapenko, ranked 32 in the world, ended her participation in Beijing. The Latvian was eliminated by the 19th in the world Elise Mertens from Belgium after 6:2, 3:6, 6:3 in a match that lasted 2 hours and 18 minutes.
This was only the second meeting between the two and the first since 2019, with Mertens recording her first success over Ostapenko. In the round of 16, the Belgian awaits the winner of the match between world No. 4 Coco Gauff (USA) and the representative of the hosts Xinran Sun.