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Shuai Zhang was the only seed upset on Wednesday at the Luxembourg Open. The Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova defeated the sixth-seeded Chinese 6-2, 6-7(3), 6-3 in two hours and 33 minutes in their first-round clash. Bouzkova won a higher margin of points off both her first and second serves as compared to Zhang.
Bouzkova won 71% of her first-serve points to Zhang’s 66% and 51% of her second-serve points to Zhang’s 37%. She also saved six of the seven break points, she faced and converted four break points. The 84th-ranked Bouzkova finished the match with 110 points to Zhang’s 98.
Zhang will face Greet Minnen for a spot in the quarter-finals. The Belgian had won her opener on Tuesday. Meanwhile, in the second round, the only seed to crash out of the tournament was Ekaterina Alexandrova. Clara Tauson upset the fourth-seeded Russian 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(1) in two hours and 24 minutes.
Not much separated the two players but in the deciding set tie-break, Tauson pulled ahead comfortably. The Dane finished the match with 102 points to Alexandrova’s 100. In the quarter-finals, she’ll play either Zhang or Minnen.
Luxembourg Open: Marketa Vondrousova, Alize Cornet reach quarters
Fifth seed Marketa Vondrousova also advanced to the quarter-finals. The Czech defeated Croatian qualifier Jana Fett 6-2, 6-4 in an hour and 15 minutes. Vondrousova broke Fett six times but was also broken on three occasions in the match.
The 2020 Tokyo Games’ silver medallist won 56 points to Fett’s 46 for the match. For a place in the semi-finals, Vondrousova will play either Aliaksandra Sasnovich or second seed Elise Mertens. Eighth seed Alize Cornet closed down the curtains on Mandy Minella’s hopes at home with a 6-3, 6-3 win over the Luxembourgian in an hour and 45 minutes.
Cornet will play either third seed Jelena Ostapenko or Dutch qualifier Arianne Hartono in the quarter-finals. Lastly, seventh seed Liudmila Samsonova also made it through to the last eight. The Russian defeated Oceane Dodin 7-6(5), 7-6(3) in two hours and 10 minutes.
For a place in the semi-finals of the Luxembourg Open, Samsonova will play either top seed Belinda Bencic or Zarina Diyas.