No.2 seed Caroline Garcia advanced to the Cymbiotika San Diego Open quarterfinals after defeating Sloane Stephens 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
Garcia will face Danielle Collins for a spot in her first semifinal since February.
San Diego results: Potapova stuns Jabeur | Collins leads American trio into QFs
Facing Stephens for the second time this season and eighth time overall, Garcia overpowered the American and ultimately cruised to the 1-hour and 44-minute victory. Garcia struck 26 winners to 27 unforced errors in the match. She limited Stephens' offensive opportunities to 12 winners and 13 unforced errors. The victory avenged Garcia's three-set loss to Stephens in Cincinnati last month.
The opening set saw Garcia break twice before Stephens could see a single break-point opportunity. But the American, now ranked No.36, flipped the script in the second set. Stephens broke in the longest game of the match to lead 3-1 and did not face a break point in the entirety of the set.
But in a match of streaks, Garcia had one final surge to close out the win. After saving a break point in her opening service game of the third set, Garcia ran off the first five games of the decider and cruised to her fifth career win over Stephens.
No.7 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia closed out the night session on Day 3 with a physical three-set win over Marta Kostyuk, winning 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2. The Brazilian will face No.4 seed Barbora Krejcikova in the quarterfinals.
Haddad Maia needed 3 hours and 5 minutes to push past Kostyuk, marking the fifth time this season that the Brazilian star needed more than three hours on the court. Haddad Maia's resiliency ultimately made the difference.
Hang loose 🤙
— wta (@WTA) September 13, 2023
Pro surfer @gabriel1medina was in the front row to support fellow Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia in San Diego!#SanDiegoOpen pic.twitter.com/oN0EXGZDY5
Coming off a three-set win over Leylah Fernandez the night before, Haddad Maia overcame a slow start to reel in Kostyuk in the first set. The Ukrainian could not protect a 5-3 lead, letting three set points come and go before being broken and losing the final four games of the set.
Marathon Marvels: Haddad Maia features in two longest matches of 2023
Kostyuk rebounded well to take the second set after Haddad Maia served for the match twice at 5-4 and 6-5. An aggressive tiebreak from Kostyuk took the match into a decider, where she had break-point chances in the opening game. But after failing to convert her trio of chances, Kostyuk ceded the momentum to Haddad Maia.
The French Open semifinalist raced to a 5-1 lead and closed out yet another hard-fought win.