Tennis: Elise Mertens Shocks Simona Halep At Madrid Open

Thirteenth seed Elise Mertens advance to the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open after rallying from a break down in each of the final two sets to beat Third seed Simona Halep 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.

Mertens needed two hours and 34 minutes to defeat the Romanian on the clay courts of Spain. It was Mertens’ second win in six attempts against Halep and her first on clay.

It was the sixth win for Mertens over an opponent ranked in the top five. Halep, a two-time Grand Slam champion, is ranked No. 3 in the world. Mertens had to climb back from a 3-1 deficit in both the second and third sets.

A first #MMOPEN quarterfinal for the Belgian!