Charleston Open: Mertens reaches last 16

Belgian Elise Mertens, the No 11 seed, reached the last 16 of the Charleston Open by winning against French qualifier Varvara Gracheva 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 at the Family Circle Tennis Center on Thursday evening.

Mertens, ranked No 30, will face Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, the No 7 seed, next.

Gracheva, ranked No 100, beat American wildcard Clervie Ngounoue (6-2, 6-1) in the previous round of the Charleston tournament.

Charleston WTA 500, other second-round results (Family Circle Tennis Center, clay, USD 922.573, most recent results first):

• Elina Svitolina beat Daria Saville (Q): 6-2, 6-4
• Danielle Collins beat Ons Jabeur (2): 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
• Sloane Stephens beat Leylah Fernandez (14): 6-4, 6-4
• Beatriz Haddad Maia (5) beat Caroline Dolehide: 6-2, 7-5
• Taylor Townsend beat Ekaterina Alexandrova (6): 7-5, 6-2
• Veronika Kudermetova (9) beat Shelby Rogers (WC): 7-6 (5), 6-4
• Daria Kasatkina (4) beat Ashlyn Krueger: 6-3, 0-6, 6-1
• Emma Navarro (10) beat Katie Volynets (Q): 6-1, 6-1
• Astra Sharma (LL) beat Lesia Tsurenko (16): 6-4, 6-0
• Victoria Azarenka (12) beat Elisabetta Cocciaretto: 6-1, 6-2
• Anhelina Kalinina (15) beat Caroline Wozniacki (WC): 6-2, 6-3
• Jaqueline Cristian beat Madison Keys (8): 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
• Jessica Pegula (1) beat Amanda Anisimova: 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (3)
• Magda Linette beat Dayana Yastremska (13): 0-6, 6-4, 6-3
• Maria Sakkari (3) beat Viktoriya Tomova: 6-3, 6-3