BERLIN — Third seed and defending champion Jessica Pegula tumbled out in the last 16 of the Berlin Open on Wednesday, losing to 2021 champion Liudmila Samsonova 6-7(8) 7-5 7-6(5) in a marathon match that lasted three hours and 21 minutes.
The Russian, who will face either Poland’s Magdalena Frech or American Amanda Anisimova next, put her thunderous first serve to good use for much of the match, firing a total of 18 aces to Pegula’s two.
Samsonova had enough opportunities to seal the first set but she squandered a total of four set points at 5-4 and 6-5 up, with Pegula snatching it in a tiebreak.
The pair held serve until Samsonova broke her opponent at 5-5 in the second set and then held to level.
Pegula was then broken at 2-2. Despite having three break opportunities of her own in the next game, she dropped 4-2 behind.
She dug deep to win the next three games and even carved out two match points at 5-4.
Samsonova, however, held firm to force another tiebreak and earned her quarterfinal spot on her own first match point.
Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur, who slipped into the main draw as a lucky loser, booked her spot in the quarterfinals with a 6-1 6-3 thumping of world number five Jasmine Paolini.
The two-time Wimbledon finalist and a winner in Berlin in 2022, earned her first top five win in almost two years and looks right at home on grass with the year’s third Grand Slam in London less than two weeks away.
It was also the first time since February that the 61st-ranked Jabeur won consecutive matches in the main draw of a tournament.
She will face either Marketa Vondrousova or Russian Diana Shnaider in the last eight. Eighth seed Paula Badosa of Spain punched her quarter-final ticket with a 7-6(2) 6-3 win over American Emma Navarro.
Badosa managed two breaks in the first set to move 5-2 up but she quickly let that advantage slip as Navarro won four games in a row to rally back and force a tiebreak.
The Spaniard composed herself just in time to win it 7-2.
Both players held serve in the second set until Badosa snatched a break to go 5-3 up and wrap up proceedings on her first match point.
