WTA 250 Osaka: Valentova Upsets Mertens, Fernandez, Sramkova and Golubic Advance to Quarterfinals

The final four round of 16 matches were on the schedule in Osaka this Thursday, October 16th.

The serious competition is heating up in Osaka. In the Japanese city, the last round of 16 matches took place this Thursday. Early in the day, Leylah Fernandez, the tournament's number 4 seed, held her ground against Dalma Galfi.

The Hungarian qualifier, who had notably beaten Townsend in the qualifying rounds and Parks in the first round, found the challenge too great this time. The Canadian, ranked 27th in the world, won in two sets (6-1, 6-4 in 1 hour 25 minutes).

Meanwhile, Elise Mertens' run ends in the round of 16. The Belgian, the tournament's number 3 seed, had no answer for the Czech sensation Tereza Valentova (6-4, 6-1 in 1 hour 15 minutes). Coming from the qualifying rounds, the 18-year-old player, ranked 78th in the world, confirmed her easy victory over Alexandra Eala in the previous round (6-1, 6-2) to advance to the quarterfinals.

The third player to qualify this Thursday was Rebecca Sramkova. The Slovak, ranked 65th in the world, dominated Ann Li (6-2, 3-6, 6-3). Finally, the most uncertain match of the day took place between Marie Bouzkova and Viktorija Golubic.

The two players provided suspense until the very end and had to be decided by a decisive third-set tie-break. However, the Swiss player let the opportunity to win slip away, as she served for the match twice, even missing two match points.

Ultimately, after all the suspense, it was the Swiss player, who remained mentally strong after failing to convert the two match points, who had the final say (1-6, 6-2, 7-6 in 2 hours 46 minutes). This victory gives her a 3-2 lead in their head-to-head encounters against Bouzkova.

The quarterfinal matchups are now set in Osaka and will take place this Friday in the Japanese city: Osaka-Cristian, Valentova-Danilovic, Sramkova-Fernandez and Golubic-Cirstea.