HAMBURG, Germany — Top-seeded Anett Kontaveit advanced to the quarterfinals of the Hamburg European Open on Thursday with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Rebecca Peterson, while Andrey Rublev started with a victory in the men’s draw.
Kontaveit, ranked second in the world, broke Peterson’s serve five times in their second-round match. The Estonian will take on Andrea Petkovic for a spot in the semifinals.
It will be only Kontaveit’s second appearance in a quarterfinal match since February after her season was disrupted by a coronavirus infection in the spring.
Fourth-seeded Aliaksandra Sasnovich won 6-3, 6-2 against Aleksandra Krunic to set up a quarterfinal meeting with seventh-seeded Maryna Zanevska.
Rublev hit 12 aces in a 6-3, 6-4 first-round win against Ricardas Berankis. It was Rublev’s first match in Hamburg since winning the 2020 Hamburg Open. The eighth-ranked Russian next plays Francisco Cerundolo.
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Fourth-seeded Pablo Carreno-Busta was upset 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (5) in his second-round match against Alex Molcan, who moves on to a quarterfinal meeting with Borna Coric.
Osaka in need of new coach
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka is in need of a new coach.
Wim Fissette, who began working with Osaka shortly before the start of the 2020 season, wrote on Instagram on Wednesday that he and Osaka are ending their partnership.
“It has been a privilege to coach Naomi since 2019 and see her grow into the Champion she has become,” Fissette’s post said. “She has inspired a whole new generation to fall in love with the game & to speak up for what they believe in and it’s been incredible to play a part in that journey.”
He also thanked Osaka and closed by writing: “I wish you all the best and looking forward to my next chapter.”
Fissette coached Osaka to two of her major championships — at the 2020 U.S. Open and 2021 Australian Open.
He also previously worked with players such as Victoria Azarenka, Kim Clijsters, Simona Halep and Angelique Kerber. Those four, like Osaka, have won major titles and spent time at No. 1 in the WTA rankings.
Osaka, a 24-year-old who was born in Japan and moved to the United States with her family as a child, is currently ranked 38th after missing chunks of time last season and this season. She withdrew from the 2021 French Open before her second-round match in order to take a mental health break, then also sat out Wimbledon last year.
After returning to action at the Tokyo Summer Games, where she lit the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony, and then competing at the U.S. Open, Osaka took another chunk of time off.
She has been dealing with an injured left Achilles tendon this season and, after a first-round loss at Roland Garros, missed Wimbledon again and hasn’t returned to the tour yet. The year’s last Grand Slam tournament, the U.S. Open, begins Aug. 29 in New York.
In February 2019, shortly after winning a trophy at the Australian Open to go with her 2018 U.S. Open title, Osaka split from coach Sascha Bajin, who helped her at both of those tournaments.
Osaka then briefly was coached by Jermaine Jenkins, who was followed by her father, Leonard Francois, before Fissette came aboard.