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Defending champion and world number two Simona Halep was defeated by Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in the second round of the Connecticut Open on Tuesday in her first match since losing to Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals in Cincinnati. The top-seed at the event, Halep had her serve broken six times over the course of the match, the biggest coming when she was down 2-3 in the deciding set. After Rybarikova went ahead 4-2, she served out the rest of the set to wrap up the first top five win of her career.
“It was a really good day for me,” said Rybarikova. “I’ve had tough draws in all of the American tournaments, so I’m glad to get this win. It’s a great feeling to beat such a great champion. I hope it’s going to bring me some confidence. I’m very happy to be in the quarterfinals.”
Despite the loss, Halep said she is able to have some positive takeaways as she looks forward to next week’s U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, N.Y.
“I played three sets and almost two hours, so I think it was a good match,” said Halep. “I have enough positive things to take from the match.”
While Halep’s next match will come as the number two seed at the U.S. Open, Rybarikova will look ahead to her quarterfinal match with American Alison Riske. The 24-year old from Pittsburgh took down sixth-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-1, 7-6(3).
She notched five break points in the straight-set win, including four in her dominant first set.
“I knew that I had to attack her second serve,” said Riske, who is the only American left in the tournament. “She places her first serve very well, but I felt like I was going to get looks on it.”
This will be the first quarterfinal appearance for Riske since she reached the final eight at the Hobart International in Australia back in early January.
Second-seeded Petra Kvitova rolled into the quarterfinals as well on Tuesday, disposing of Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-2, 6-1. She will play fellow Czech Barbora Zahlavova-Strycova for a spot in the semifinals.
