Belgian Elise Mertens has put a stop to Jessica Pegula’s ambitions of making a strong showing in Paris. The 28th seed easily defeated his opponent 6-1, 6-3 to go to the fourth round for the third time.
Pegula, the third-ranked player in the world, has only won two WTA Tour championships and has yet to advance past the quarterfinal round of a Grand Slam competition.
“I’m very happy to win in two sets. She’s a very good player,” said Mertens. The former Australian Open semi-finalist will next face the winner of an all-Russian tie between Anastasia Potapova and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Daria Kasatkina, a semi-finalist the previous year, defeated American Peyton Stearns in under an hour to advance quickly to the second week.
On Sunday, the ninth seed will compete against either her native countrywoman Anna Blinkova or Elina Svitolina for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Svitolina, a Ukrainian, has advanced to the third round in her first Grand Slam match since the Australian Open in 2022.
She also won the title in Strasbourg last week, defeating Blinkova in the final, and she is now on a seven-match winning streak.
After that match, Svitolina declined to shake her Russian opponent’s hand, and it’s likely that she’ll maintain same position on Friday.
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