Madrid Open: Stearns ends Masarova’s run in brutal fashion to make last 16

American Peyton Stearns moved into the last 16 of the Madrid Open by winning against Swiss qualifier Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 6-0 at the Caja Mágica.

Masraova was on a four-match winning streak, having come through qualifiers en route to the last 32 in the Spanish capital. But her run was ended ruthlessly as the experienced Stearns steamrolled her way to victory with the loss of just two games.

Stearns, ranked No 44, will play Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, the top seed, next.

In the previous rounds of the Madrid tournament, the American edged out Australian Kimberly Birrell (5-7, 6-3, 6-4) and No 15 seed Amanda Anisimova (6-2, 2-6, 7-5).

Masarova, ranked No 153, edged out Australian wildcard Ajla Tomljanovic (6-3, 1-6, 7-5) and beat Kazakh Yulia Putintseva, the No 22 seed (6-3, 6-3) earlier in the tournament.

Madrid WTA 1000, other third-round results (Caja Mágica, clay, EUR 7.854.000, most recent results first):

• Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Daria Kasatkina
• Elena Rybakina vs. Elina Svitolina
• Moyuka Uchijima beat Jessica Pegula (3): 6-3, 6-2

• Maria Sakkari beat Jasmine Paolini (6): 6-2, 6-1
• Anastasia Potapova beat Sofia Kenin (32): 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6)
• Marta Kostyuk (24) beat Veronika Kudermetova: 6-0, 4-6, 6-4
• Aryna Sabalenka beat Elise Mertens (28): 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
• Donna Vekic (19) beat Emma Navarro (11): 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
• Iga Swiatek (2) beat Linda Noskova (31): 6-4, 6-2
• Coco Gauff (4) beat Ann Li: 6-2, 6-3
• Belinda Bencic beat Beatriz Haddad Maia (16): 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2)
• Madison Keys (5) beat Anna Kalinskaya (30): 7-5, 7-6 (3)
• Yuliia Starodubtseva (Q) beat Liudmila Samsonova (18): 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-0
• Diana Shnaider (13) beat Anastasija Sevastova: 6-0, 6-0
• Mirra Andreeva (7) beat Magdalena Frech (27): 7-5, 6-3