Tag Archives: Rebeka Masarova

Leylah Fernandez Helps Lead Canada Past Spain in Billie Jean King Cup Finals Group Play

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Leylah Fernandez has helped Canada take down the hosts at this year’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals.

The 21-year-old half-Ecuadorian Canadian tennis player edged past Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo 7-6 (8), 7-6 (7) in Group C of the tournament on Wednesday, sending Canada to the semi-finals.

Leylah FernandezMeanwhile, teenager Marina Stakusic got the biggest win of her career when she defeated No. 65-ranked Rebeka Masarova. 

The 18-year-old Stakusic, ranked No. 258 in the world, defeated Masarova 6-3, 6-1 to give Canada the first point of the day at La Cartuja Stadium.

Stakusic’s previous career-best victory had been against No. 152 Jaimee Fourlis in 2022. She had never beaten a top 100 opponent.

In the doubles, Eugenie Bouchard and Gabriela Dabrowski beat Sorribes Tormo and Masarova 6-2, 7-5.

In Group D, Italy defeated France 2-1.

The 12 teams in the BJK Cup Finals compete in four round-robin groups and the winners will advance to the semifinals this weekend.

Rebeka Masarova Upsets Maria Sakkari in US Open First Round to Earn First Win Against Top 10 Player

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Rebeka Masarova is celebrating an important win…

The 24-year-old Swiss-born Spanish tennis player picked up her first Top 10 win with a 6-4, 6-4 upset victory over Maria Sakkari in the first round of the US Open on Monday.

Rebeka Masarova

Masarova, ranked No. 71 in the world, had previously been 0-4 against Top 10 opponents, but took her chances by converting all three break points created to dispatch the No. 8 seed after 87 minutes.

The last time Masarova won an outdoor hard-court match in the main draw of a tour-level event? January 7, when she beat Ysaline Bonaventure to make her maiden WTA final in Auckland. Masarova’s US Open preparation saw her fall in the first round of Cincinnati qualifying before picking up a pair of wins at the WTA 125 in Chicago.

For Sakkari, her 2023 at the majors ends with three straight opening-round exits. One could understand her Roland Garros departure at the hands of eventual finalist Karolina Muchova, who had also won their encounter at the Paris major a year earlier. The same can’t be said for Wimbledon, where she bageled Marta Kostyuk in the first set only to lose 7-5 in a decider. Worth reminding that like Masarova, Kostyuk had never beaten a Top 10 opponent with a 0-14 mark going into that encounter.

Sakkari came into Flushing Meadows at No. 13 in the Race to the WTA Finals. A year after a run to the WTA 1000 Guadalajara title match clinched the final berth to the season finale (held in Fort Worth, Texas), the former world No. 3 will need an even bigger fourth quarter boost to get back to the prestigious year-end event.

Rebeka Masarova Upsets Mayar Sherif to Earn First Victory at Wimbledon

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Rebeka Masarova has earned her first Wimbledon victory…

Playing in only her second tournament at the All England Club, the unseeded 23-year-old Swiss-born Spanish professional tennis player defeated No. 31 seed Mayar Sherif in the first round.

Rebeka MasarovaMasarova, currently ranked No. 66 in the world, her highest ranking to date, outlasted Sherif 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (6) in a hard-fought match.

Masarova will next face either Camila Osorio or Elisabetta Cocciaretto in the second round.

Earlier this year, Masarova reached her first WTA final at the Auckland Classic, losing to Coco Gauff 1-6, 1-6.

Rebeka Masarova Defeats Ysaline Bonaventure to Reach ASB Classic Final

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Rebeka Masarova has reached her first WTA final…

The 23-year-old half-Spanish Swiss tennis player defeated fellow qualifier Ysaline Bonaventure 6-3, 6-3 in a rain-delayed encounter to reach the final at the ASB Classic in Auckland.

Rebeka MasarovaMasarova stunned former US Open champion Sloane Stephens in the first round while Bonaventure took out third seed and 2021 US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez in the quarterfinal.

Masarova, currently ranked No. 130 in the world, broke in game four of the second set and then raced into a 5-1 lead in the second set on the back of two breaks. Bonaventure got one break back in game eight only for the Spaniard to break again and wrap up the match.

“It feels amazing, I’m high on emotions right now, so I’m super happy,” Masarova said. “I like to think always that I can do more than I think I’m capable of doing. I just took it a match at a time.”

She’ll next play American Coco Gauff in the final of the rain-hampered tournament.

Masarova is the 2016 French Open junior champion.

Rebeka Masarova Claims First Win Over a Top-50 Player Since 2016

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Rebeka Masarova is celebrating a big win…

The 23-year-old half-Spanish tennis player, a qualifier at this week’s ASB Classic, defeated second-seeded Sloane Stephens 6-3, 7-5 (5) on Wednesday as organizers of the WTA Tour event contended with a backlog of singles matches caused by persistent rain.

Rebeka MasarovaMatches had to be played indoors and without spectators to ensure the first round of singles was completed.

On a day which was to be notable for the number of American players in action, Stephens struggled to adjust to the indoor setting and fell to the 130th-ranked Masarova in just under two hours.

The match was a holdover from the previous evening; Masarova led 2-1 on serve when play was suspended late Tuesday night. She immediately broke Stephens for 3-1 and, playing behind a strong serve, took the first set 6-3 in 41 minutes.

Masarova took an early 2-0 lead in the second set, but Stephens broke in the fourth game to level at 2-2 and broke again in the sixth game for a 4-2 lead.

But Masarova broke back in the ninth game and came close to doing so again in the 11th game when she had three break points at 0-40 which Stephens was able to save. Masarova went up 6-2 in the tiebreaker and finally sealed the match on her fourth match point to claim her first win over a top-50 player since 2016.

“I thought I played some good points,” Stephens said. “I thought I played well in some moments.

“Obviously, I wish I could have played better and done some things differently but overall, I’m upset but not devastated. It’s the first tournament of year so I have to be realistic and just know there’s stuff to build on.”