Madrid Open: Mirra Andreeva stuns Magda Linette on 16th birthday, Coco Gauff loses to Paula Badosa

BySam Rooke

Published 29/04/2023 at 19:00 GMT

In the WTA Madrid Open on Saturday, there were few upsets but most big names prevailed in sunny weather. Liudmila Samsonova, Irina-Camelia Begu, Aryna Sabalenka, and Elise Mertens advanced to the fourth round. Sixteen-year-old Mirra Andreeva defeated Magda Linette, and Paula Badosa pulled off an upset by defeating Coco Gauff in straight sets.

Russian teenager Mirra Andreeva celebrated her 16th birthday by stunning Magda Linette at the Madrid Open.

The teenager overcame Linette in a hard-fought 90-minute match, winning in straight sets 6-3 6-3 but had to fight all the way. Andreeva has now won her last 10 matches across ITF and WTA in April, and now faces the stern test of second seed Aryna Sabalenka.

With the sun shining brightly it was warm, but not quite as hot as much of the rest of Spain. Liudmila Samsonova defeated Jelena Ostapenko 6-2 6-0 to move into the fourth round of the tournament where she will face Irina-Camelia Begu.

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Samsonova saw off Maryna Zanevska in the first round, while Ostapenko defeated Linda Fruhvirtova in the previous round.

Romanian veteran Begu outmuscled Shelby Rogers 7-5 6-2 to advance and secure a fourth-round berth against Samsonova. Begu had already beaten Karolina Muchova in the second round after being given a bye for the first round as a seeded player.

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Sabalenka beat Colombian wildcard Camila Osorio 6-4 7-5 in a difficult match. Despite Osorio's efforts to come back in the second set, Sabalenka leaned on her physical advantages and power game to secure the win and move on. Sabalenka, a former champion of the event, is hoping to bounce back after losing the Stuttgart Open final to Iga Swiatek last week.

Elise Mertens, the No. 24 seed, beat Jule Niemeier 6-3 6-4 to advance. Mertens will play the winner of the match between Caroline Garcia and Mayar Sherif. Niemeier had won against Xinyu Wang before pulling off the upset of the tournament by beating Petra Kvitova in the previous round.

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American-born Spanish player Paula Badosa pulled off another upset late in the day as she beat Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-0 in 72 minutes. Gauff was broken in the opening game but broke back immediately. Badosa got another break soon after and sealed the set with a third break, this time to love.

Gauff won just eight points in the second set, as Badosa cruised into the next round.

On Sunday, the third round gets underway with Swiatek's meeting with Bernarda Pera likely to be a particular highlight.

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