WASHINGTON, D.C. — Round of 16 play at the Mubadala Citi DC Open produced a full slate of storylines Wednesday at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center, with the tournament’s top seeds moving into the quarterfinals alongside two upset-minded runs from the WTA field.
Top seed Alex de Minaur opened his title defense with a three-set win over Stefanos Tsitsipas, overcoming a lopsided head-to-head deficit against the Greek to reach the second round. Third seed Taylor Fritz needed two sets to see off Kamil Majchrzak, 6-3, 6-4, and moves on to face Alex Michelsen in the quarterfinals. On the ATP side, Rafael Jodar also upset 2015 champion Kei Nishikori, and fourth seed Lorenzo Musetti advanced as well.
On the WTA side, Naomi Osaka booked her first career Washington quarterfinal, advancing 6-3, 3-1 after Ashlyn Krueger retired with a right ankle injury sustained in the first set. Osaka will next face Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto, who upset eighth-seeded American Emma Navarro. In the tournament’s most dramatic result, Alex Eala rallied from a 1-5 hole in the second set to beat defending champion Leylah Fernandez, 6-2, 7-6(1), ending Fernandez’s title defense in the Round of 16.
Quarterfinal play continues Thursday at the FitzGerald Tennis Center, with Fritz-Michelsen and Osaka-Cocciaretto among the matchups on tap as the tournament heads toward Sunday’s finals.