In Thursday’s quarterfinals, all covered by our photographer Jimmie48, top seed Simona Halep suffered her first defeat in 15 matches in Madrid, as Karolina Pliskova “played one of the best matches on clay in her life” and beat the Romanian only for the second time in their eight meetings. The Czech’s semifinal opponent Petra Kvitova eased past Russia’s Daria Kasatkina in the night session, recording her ninth straight match win.
Caroline Garcia moved into the last four with a straight-set victory over Carla Suarez Navarro, while Kiki Bertens came from behind to win her first ever encounter with Maria Sharapova.
MORE MUTUA MADRID OPEN 2018 PHOTOS:
- Wednesday: Former champs Halep, Kvitova, Sharapova move into quarterfinals
- Tuesday: Continuation of second-round action, Suarez Navarro thrills home crowd with epic Svitolina upset
- Monday: Sharapova & Wozniacki victorious, Pliskova eliminates Azarenka in the second round
- Sunday: Halep, Wozniacki, Azarenka, Sharapova, Muguruza ease through the first round
- Saturday: First round kicks off, Kontaveit eliminates Venus
- Friday: Qualifying action, practice sessions, players’ party
