FOUR seeds were knocked out WTA Volvo Car Open fantasy contention in the second half of the Round of 32, with two top five seeds (and Grand Slam winners) in American Sofia Kenin and Naomi Osaka out of the race. The United States is now out of the running for a victory here with reigning champion Madison Keys also defeated.

Wildcard Monica Puig was clinical against Osaka, defeating the Japanese star in straight sets though it was certainly not an easy win. Osaka was certainly not at her best but was relatively consistent throughout, pushing the 26-year-old Puerto Rican until the bitter end but it was not enough, going down in two tie-breaking sets, 5-7 6-7. Kenin’s first set was solid but she seemed to drop the ball from then on, allowing her opposition in German, Julia Goerges a look in to come away with a spectacular 4-6 6-1 6-0 victory against the Australian Open champion.

Goerges’ next opponent is 20-year-old Czech Marketa Vondrousova, who outclassed Keys in the 4-6 6-4 6-2 clash, blowing Keys out of the water in the third set and giving the American no chance to utilise her solid second set win to close out the match. Vondrousova exposed holes in Keys’ game plan, with the American coming in off the back of some frustrating form, unable to contend with stellar talent on its way up.

The last seed to be defeated was Bianca Andreescu who has come off some hot form but was ultimately unable to compete with unseeded Frenchwoman, Kristina Mladenovic. Mladenovic made quick work of Andreescu in straight sets, forcing uncharacteristic errors from the Canadian young gun.

Also collecting solid wins were the likes of Ash Barty and Johanna Konta, both of whom ran away with solid straight sets wins and will take on the other in the next round. While Konta was challenged in the first set by her opposition in Carla Suarrez Navarro before settling into the  7-6 6-3 victory, Barty had a much easier time of it against Donna Vekic, defeating the Croatian in 75 minutes to head through to the Round of 16.

In other matches, seventh seed Elina Svitolina overcame a sluggish start against Ekaterina Alexandrova before dominating in the second and third sets to come out victor, 2-6 6-1 6-0, while Elise Mertens pushed Dayana Yastremska all the way to the end but to no avail.

Tomorrow’s draw will see some interesting results play out, with two top 20 seed matches to play, while wildcard Iga Swiatek will look to go one better after a stellar performance yesterday.

ROUND OF 32 RESULTS:

[1] Ash Barty (AUS) defeated Donna Vekic (CRO) 6-3 6-3
Julia Goerges (GER) defeated [3] Sofia Kenin (USA) 4-6 6-1 6-0
[WC] Monica Puig (PUE) defeated [5] Naomi Osaka (JPN) 7-5 7-6
[7] Elina Svitolina (UKR) defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS) 2-6 6-1 6-0
Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) defeated [12] Bianca Andreescu (CAN) 6-3 6-2
Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) defeated [14] Madison Keys (USA) 4-6 6-4 6-2
[16] Johanna Konta (GBR) defeated [Q] Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 7-6 6-3
Dayana Yastremska (UKR) defeated Elise Mertens (BEL) 2-6 7-5 7-5