Sorribes Tormo battles past Kasatkina into Madrid quarters, Pegula takes out Andreescu

Two first-time Mutua Madrid Open quarterfinalists will clash to seal a semifinal place after Sara Sorribes Tormo overcame Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in 2 hours and 31 minutes, and No.12 seed Jessica Pegula pulled away from Bianca Andreescu for a 7-5, 6-1 win.

Sorribes Tormo, the last home player standing following the exits of her seeded compatriots Garbiñe Muguruza and Paula Badosa, thrilled her home crowd by triumphing in a typically gruelling encounter.

There were 18 breaks of serve in total, but the Spaniard succeeded in contesting more of the match on her own terms than Kasatkina, who could not sustain the aggression she needed to hit through Sorribes Tormo.

Fast facts: No.47-ranked Sorribes Tormo moves into her fourth quarterfinal of 2022, and third of her career at WTA 1000 level following Miami and Montréal 2021. It is also the first time she has reached the last eight of a Hologic WTA Tour event on home soil.

The pair had split two previous meetings, which occurred in consecutive semifinals in Floridian ITF W25 events in Jan. 2015. Kasatkina had won the first, in Daytona Beach, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. A week later, Sorribes Tormo took an emphatic revenge 6-0, 6-0 in Sunrise.

Match management: The key game of the first set turned out to be Sorribes Tormo's hold for 2-1 - the only service hold of the opening act. Each player won just 38% of her first serve points during this passage of play.

Kasatkina managed to take control of the second set after saving three break points to hold for the first time for 2-0. Unleashing on her heavy forehand and making judicious net approaches, she lighted on the exact strategy she needed to penetrate the Sorribes Tormo defense.

But Sorribes Tormo shook off the one-sided set to come back strongly in the third. Using her own formidable net skills to superb effect, she built a 4-1 double-break lead - enough to withstand a late Kasatkina comeback attempt. Kasatkina held a point to level at 4-4, but Sorribes Tormo found a service winner to save it, before breaking for the match as Kasatkina's forehand went awry.

Pegula continues to shine in WTA 1000s

Since the 2020 Western & Southern Open, there have been 11 WTA 1000 tournaments. Pegula has reached at least the quarterfinals in seven of them, as well as two last-eight runs at the Australian Open in 2021 and 2022.

The American's career-best run this week in Madrid completes her set of quarterfinals at all currently scheduled WTA 1000 events. It also avenged a 0-6, 6-4, 6-2 loss to Andreescu in the 2019 Newport Beach 125 final, the pair's only previous meeting.

Pegula converted only three of her 17 break point chances in the first set, but still managed to come from a break down twice to nab it. Leading 6-5, she had to wait out the match's first major interruption as Andreescu required medical treatment for a nosebleed. On resumption, the Canadian threw in an error-strewn service game, conceding her fifth set point with a backhand over the baseline.

Pegula started the second set by losing a mammoth six-deuce tussle to drop serve, but did not lose another game thereafter. The 28-year-old landed 75% of her first serves compared to Andreescu's 51%, and kept her unforced error count down to 24 compared to 31.

Leading 3-1, the pair were forced to wait for half an hour due to heavy rain causing havoc to court conditions. Again, Pegula raced out of the blocks once play had restarted, rattling off the first nine points and slamming a forehand winner to seal her first match point.

Sorribes Tormo has won both of her previous meetings with Pegula, triumphing 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 in 2016 Charleston qualifying a 6-2, 6-2 in the 2019 Indian Wells 125 quarterfinals.

Head to Head

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Pegula on her win: "I felt like the first set was super-awkward - no one could really take control with all the chances. Three for 17 on break points is an insane stat, that has to be a record. So that was interesting. But I was mentally able to stay in it and win the set. But it was awkward, I think we were both super on edge."

Pegula on facing Sorribes Tormo: "You just have to expect every ball to come back. What she does so great is she plays every point so tough, it doesn't matter the score. You just expect that, and do your best to do the same thing. Just staying focused, getting your strategy right and not getting frustrated is probably the most important, but easier said than done."