NEW YORK: Swiss 13th seed Belinda Bencic stunned top-ranked defending champion Naomi Osaka on Monday to reach a US Open quarter-final against Donna Vekic, who rescued a match point to advance.
Bencic’s 7-5, 6-4 triumph, her WTA-best sixth over a top-five foe this year, ensured 21-year-old Japanese star Osaka will fall from the world number one spot next week.
“The challenge cannot be bigger against Naomi,” Bencic said. “I had to be at the top of my game and I’m really pleased how well I handled my nerves at the end.”
Bencic, 22, matched her deepest career Grand Slam run from the 2014 US Open with her third victory of the year over Osaka, having also won at Indian Wells and Madrid.
“She played pretty clean. She had a specific plan she wanted to execute,” Osaka said. “I guess just being aggressive.”
Australia’s Ashleigh Barty, the reigning French Open champion, will move atop the rankings next Monday after the loss by Osaka, who defends her Australian Open title in January.
“I can look at this and be very disappointed and mad, but I’m not mad about it,” Osaka said. “Of course I’d like to reach higher rounds. That’s definitely what I’ll aim for in Australia.”
Vekic, the 23rd seed from Croatia, saved a match point in the second set and made her first Slam quarter-final by rallying past German 26th seed Julia Goerges 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-3.
Also moving into the last eight was Belgian 25th seed Elise Mertens, who cruised past 141st-ranked US wildcard Kristie Ahn 6-1, 6-1 in 67 minutes.
Mertens, whose only deeper Slam run was into last year’s Australian Open semi-finals, will play for a berth in Thursday’s semi-finals against the winner of a later match between 116th-ranked US qualifier Taylor Townsend and 19-year-old Canadian 15th seed Bianca Andreescu. – AFP
