Bad Homburg Open: Jasmine Paolini and Jessica Pegula reach quarters

Bad Homburg: The top two seeds at the Bad Homburg Open  made it safely into the quarterfinals on Tuesday -- but via contrasting routes.

No. 2 Jasmine Paolini needed to navigate a host of set-point saves and match-point misses before overcoming Leylah Fernandez 7-6(8), 7-6(6) in 2 hours and 32 minutes, the joint second-longest two-set match of 2025 so far. No. 1 Jessica Pegula was thoroughly efficient in defeating qualifier Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 6-2 in 66 minutes.

Paolini's victory was a triumph of clutch play for the Italian. The tone was set in a seven-deuce opening game, which Fernandez eventually held, and from there, the momentum shifted back and forth between the pair. Paolini, volleying with panache, took a 4-2 lead, only for Fernandez to bounce back with a three-game run. At 6-5, the Canadian held her first set point, but Paolini came up with the shot of the match -- a terrific lob on the run to end a lung-busting rally -- to fend it off as per WTA.

Another two set points for Fernandez came and went in the tiebreak before Paolini converted her second by coming out on top of another enthralling all-court exchange, foiling the former US Open runner-up with an unexpectedly short smash. (IANS)

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