German Julia Goerges defeated world number one Caroline Wozniacki for the second time in little more than a week, sending the top seed out 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in the third round of the ATP-WTA Madrid Masters on Thursday. Goerges, only the second German to win the Stuttgart WTA tournament, is making a solid Madrid debut and next plays Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who upset French Open finalist Samantha Stosur 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.
Fourth seed Victoria Azarenka overcame Spain’s Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-0, 6-3 with the eventual winner from Belarus broken as she served for victory but breaking straight back to seal the win in 62 minutes. Azarenka has played near flawless tennis, losing just five games this week and playing for barely more than a total of two and a half hours. She has chances to rise to fourth in the world by reaching the final and depending on the results of French Open champion Francesca Schiavone.
Sixth seed Li Na of China, the Australian Open finalist, continued her progress, moving into the last eight thanks to a 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over Italian Roberta Vinci, who won in Barcelona last weekend.