Top seeds Zverev, Sabalenka win

Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka rallied to defeat former doubles partner Elise Mertens in three sets and advance to the last-16 of the Madrid Open on Sunday. Top-seeded Alexander Zverev scraped past Alejandro Davidovich Fokina after requiring tiebreakers in the final two sets of their match, while defending men’s champion Andrey Rublev lost in three sets to Alexander Bublik.

Sabalenka got off to a poor start against the 26th-ranked Mertens, but picked up the pace to comfortably close out the match. The two-time champion in Madrid won 3-6 6-2 6-1 to keep alive her hopes of reaching the final for the third straight time. Sabalenka won the title in the Spanish capital in 2021 and 2023, and finished runner-up to Iga Swiatek last year.

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