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Simona Halep into Citi Open quarters, No. 1 Thiem ousted

By Harry Floyd

PARIS, FRANCE - JUNE 10: Simona Halep of Romania plays a backhand during the ladies singles final match against Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia Open at Roland Garros on June 10, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - JUNE 10: Simona Halep of Romania plays a backhand during the ladies singles final match against Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia Open at Roland Garros on June 10, 2017 in Paris, France. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images) /
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Simona Halep advances into the 2017 Washington Citi Open quarterfinals. On the men’s side, top seed Dominic Thiem sees a surprising upset.

Simona Halep is the current world No. 2 in women’s singles tennis. She also leads the Race to Singapore rankings as of this week. Her win over American Sloane Stephens moves her into the quarterfinals at the 2017 Washington Open.

On the men’s side, top seed and favorite Dominic Thiem sees an unexpected upset. He drops his round of 16 match to Kevin Anderson.

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The fifteenth seeded Anderson pulls off a strong performance against Thiem. He takes their round of 16 meeting in three sets, winning tiebreaks in both the second and third sets. The veteran South African tennis player is the current world No. 45 in men’s singles.

Up next for Anderson is Yuki Bhambri of India. A qualifier this week, Bhambri upset defending champion Gael Monfils earlier in the week.

Top seed Simona Halep faces Ekaterina Makarova in the Washington Open quarterfinals.

The Romanian tennis star defeats American Sloane Stephens in straight sets to advance. After a hard fought first set where Halep emerged victorious 7-6 (7-3), she took the second set 6-0. Halep’s chances of winning this week have also greatly improved after the loss by second seed Kristina Mladenovic.

The French tennis star dropped her round of 16 meeting with 17-year-old Bianca Andreescu. The young Canadian is having a run she could only dream of at the Washington Open this week. She faces Andrea Petkovic of Germany in her quarterfinals match on Friday.

While Thiem will likely bounce back from his exit in Washington, the tournament may be more important for Simona Halep. The world No. 2 has one WTA singles title on the year, but has been in the mix several times. She also remains in search of her first ever Grand Slam singles title. With the 2017 US Open rapidly approaching, there is no doubt that Halep is gearing up for Grand Slam action. Her current lead in the Race to Singapore also sets her up as the potential favorite at the end of season Tour Finals. Previously, Simona Halep has reached the semifinals at the US Open and the finals at the end of year tournament. Stay tuned to see how she fares throughout the rest of the Washington Open.

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