WTA Bucharest: Sevastova and Kudermetova bow out. Rybakina reaches quarters

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The top seed and the defending Bucharest champion Anastasija Sevastova had to bow out already after the second round, losing 6-2 7-5 to a qualifier Patricia Maria Tig in an hour and 43 minutes. The Romanian is playing her first WTA tournament since Guangzhou Open in 2017, struggling with injuries and giving birth to a daughter last year before making the remarkable comeback that will provide her with a lot of confidence.

Sevastova couldn't do much today on both serve and return, stealing the rival's service game only once and getting broken four times from eight opportunities offered to Tig. The Romanian needed no time at all to settle into a right rhythm, saving an early break point and moving over the top with breaks in games four and eight for a 6-2.

They traded breaks in games six and seven in set number two to stay neck and neck before Patricia Maria delivered the crucial break at 6-5 to seal the deal and enter the last eight for the first time since Seoul in 2016. Former world no.

1 in doubles Barbora Krejcikova is also through to the quarters (the first since Bastad 2017), leading 6-0, 3-2 against the 7th seed Aliona Bolsova when the Spaniard was forced to retire due to an ankle injury. Krejcikova stormed over her rival to win the opening set in some 20 minutes with a bagel, taming her shots nicely and fending off all the break points in the set number two before Aliona injured an ankle at the end of the fifth game, unable to carry on.

A qualifier Martina Di Giuseppe took advantage of another retirement, moving through when the 3rd seed Veronika Kudermetova retired while leading 6-2 4-5. Di Giuseppe is making her WTA debut this week at the age of 28, staying in touch with the better-ranked opponent in set number two before the Russian had to retire due to an injury.

Another Russian, who plays for Kazakhstan, Elena Rybakina had a great day at the office, demolishing Jaqueline Cristian 6-1, 6-0 in 50 minutes, hitting six aces and dropping only 11 points behind the initial shot. Cristian had only one break point, failing to convert it and giving away 66% of the points in her games, playing against seven break chances and allowing Rybakina to grab five breaks and move over the top after rattling off the last seven games of the match to stay on the title course.