Swiatek begins bid for third Stuttgart title with easy win over Mertens

Pole Iga Swiatek, the top seed, defeated Belgian Elise Mertens 6-3, 6-4 to advance to the last 8 of the Stuttgart Open at the Porsche-Arena on Thursday evening.

Swiatek, ranked No 1, will face the winner of the match between wildcard Emma Raducanu and Linda Noskova next.

The Pole is chasing her third Stuttgart crown, and with it another Porsche.

“There is always space for a Porsche. I’ll make an underground garage,” she joked.

Mertens, ranked No 30, won against German wildcard Tatjana Maria (6-1, 4-6, 6-0) in the previous round of the Stuttgart tournament.

Stuttgart WTA 500, other second-round results (Porsche-Arena, clay, USD 802.237, most recent results first):

• Qinwen Zheng vs. Marta Kostyuk
• Emma Raducanu vs. Linda Noskova
• Jasmine Paolini beat Ons Jabeur (7): 7-6 (8), 6-4
• Marketa Vondrousova (6) beat Anastasia Potapova: 7-6 (5), 6-1
• Elena Rybakina (4) beat Veronika Kudermetova: 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-4
• Aryna Sabalenka (2) beat Paula Badosa: 7-6 (4), 4-6, 3-3 ret.
• Coco Gauff (3) beat Sachia Vickery (Q): 6-3, 4-6, 7-5