Dutch Open: Defending champion Alexandrova battles into last eight

Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, the No 4 seed, won against Australian Kimberly Birrell 6-4, 7-6 (3) to reach the quarter-finals of the Dutch Open at the Autotron Rosmalen in ‘s-Hertogenbosch on Thursday.

Defending champion Alexandrova, ranked No 26, will face qualifier Emina Bektas next.

14 sets in a row in Den Bosch 📈

Defending champ Ekaterina Alexandrova moves past Birrell 6-4, 7-6(3) and will now face Bektas in the quarterfinals.
#LibemaOpen pic.twitter.com/yBe9ofc7BS

— wta (@WTA) June 15, 2023

The Russian defeated Evgeniya Rodina (6-3, 6-4) ahead of her victory.

In the previous round of the Rosmalen tournament, Birrell, ranked No 117, beat Dutch wildcard Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove (6-1, 6-4).

‘s-Hertogenbosch WTA 250, other last 16 results (Autotron Rosmalen, grass, USD 259.303, most recent results first):

• Celine Naef vs. Catherine McNally
• Viktoria Hruncakova vs. Bianca Andreescu
• Emina Bektas beat Sachia Vickery (LL): 6-4, 6-4
• Liudmila Samsonova (2) beat Polina Kudermetova: 6-4, 6-1
• Aliaksandra Sasnovich (7) beat Greet Minnen: 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
• Veronika Kudermetova (1) beat Carol Zhao (Q): 6-1, 6-3
• Ashlyn Krueger beat Victoria Azarenka (3): 6-3, 6-2