Darja Semenistaja vs Teodora Kostovic — R16 — SP Open

Teodora Kostovic is into the quarterfinals at the SP Open, the WTA 250 in Sao Paulo, after beating ninth seed Darja Semenistaja in straight sets in Wednesday's round of 16. Kostovic, a 19-year-old Serbian ranked WTA No. 186, was the narrow betting-market favorite at 57 percent despite the 66-place ranking gap. The opening set was the contested one. Kostovic broke in game 5 for 3-2, Semenistaja broke back in game 8 to level at 4-4, and Kostovic broke again in game 9 before serving out the set 6-4. The second set was not close: Kostovic broke in the first and third games for a 3-0 lead and conceded only one more game. Kostovic held seven of her eight service games and won 76 percent of her first-serve points, a figure that rose to 80 percent in the second set. Semenistaja held only four of eight and converted one of her six break points to Kostovic's four of eight. Semenistaja had reached the last 16 with a 7-5 6-4 win over Hayu Kinoshita on Tuesday. For Kostovic, who lost to Aryna Sabalenka in the Wimbledon first round in June, Semenistaja at WTA No. 120 is the highest-ranked opponent of her recorded wins.