Solana Sierra (No. 88 in the WTA rankings) needed nearly two hours of play to come back from a brutal bagel and secure a spot in the Madrid Open round of 16 against Zeynep Sonmez (No. 67), winning 0-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Headlining a clash between two rising stars on the world’s most demanding tour, Solana Sierra and Zeynep Sonmez took to the court at La Caja Mágica to face each other for the first time in their careers, with a place in the round of 16 on the line. From the opening minutes, the 23-year-old Turk took advantage of her chances and the string of errors coming from the other side of the court to build a crushing lead on the scoreboard.
Putting the famous saying “wipe the slate clean” into practice, the Argentine resumed the match after the break leaving behind the bad feeling she had created in the first half of the contest. Thirty-two minutes after the match had begun, she managed to hold serve for her first game and officially get herself into the contest. Cutting down on mistakes, capitalizing on her opponent’s pressure, and striking with her trademark power from the baseline, she sent the match into a third and final set.
Finally, after 1 hour and 47 minutes of play, the Mar del Plata native claimed a huge win, 0-6, 6-2, 6-3, to reach the round of 16 of a WTA 1000 event for the first time in her career.
Just days earlier, the 21-year-old player had arrived in the Spanish capital on a four-match losing streak, which she ended with wins over Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska and Poland’s Magdalena Frech, respectively.
In the live rankings, she now stands at world No. 71 and, as one of the final 16 players in the draw, awaits either Belgium’s Elise Mertens (No. 21) or the Czech Republic’s Karolina Pliskova (No. 197).