Mutua Madrid Open—Madrid, Spain
Surprises were the order play on Saturday in Madrid, Spain. On the women’s side, the title was won by No. 7 seed Kiki Bertens, who defeated No. 3 seed Simona Halep 6-4, 6-4.
In a match that featured eight total breaks of serve, it was Bertens who won 76 percent of her first serve points against her diminutive opponent. Striking four aces during the one hour and 27 minute encounter, Bertens captured her ninth career title and evened her head-to-head with Halep at three wins each.
The 27-year-old is currently ranked No. 7 in the world.
Over on the men’s side, Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas continued his dream season by upending No. 2 seed Rafael Nadal 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 to reach the finals. Using his all-court game to great effect, Tsitsipas won the opening set in difficult fashion before the Spaniard roared back. With everything to play for, Tsitsipas raced out to a 5-2 lead in set three before Nadal broke for 3-5. Needing four match points to advance to finals, Tsitsipas prevailed after Nadal hit a backhand into the net.
Tsitsipas recently won the title in Estoril, Portugal and will next face top seed Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s final. The Serb upended inform Dominic Thiem 7-6(2), 7-6(4) earlier in the day.
Tsitsipas leads Djokovic 1-0 in their career head-to-head, after defeating the 15-time Major winner at the Rogers Cup last Summer.
