Svitolina wrecks German dream in Berlin

Roland Garros quarter-finalist Elina Svitolina ended the home dream of 80th ranked German Eva Lys with a 6-3, 6-2 victory on Thursday which put the Ukrainian into the last eight of the WTA Berlin event.

The Wimbledon tune-up in the federal capital did not work out for wild card Lys, who went down in just over an hour on the grass.Svitolina, 31 and ranked eighth in the world, is playing in Berlin for the first time in half a decade and is now into her eighth quarter-final of the season.

Svitolina has the edge over Lys after beating the German in home events at Stuttgart last April on clay and following up with the recent grass win which featured eight aces among 22 Svitolina winners.

The Ukrainian sixth seed saved seven of eight break points.

2025 Australian Open winner Madison Keys set up an American grudge match with Jessica Pegula thanks to a 6-4, 7-5 defeat of Czech Karolina Muchova.

Three of the final four games of the match were breaks of serve, with Keys taking a set and 5-4 lead on the back of four straight errors from her opponent.

But the American was unable to serve out victory in the next game; the finally prevailed with a concluding break for 6-5 and a welcome hold of serve to escape with the win.