ROME — Tennis matches have been interrupted by fireworks displays, environmental protestors and even, last week in Madrid, a nationwide power blackout.
You can add the world’s largest aerobatic display to the list now. As Naomi Osaka served, down a set but at 2-2 in the second against Peyton Stearns, Campo Centrale was briefly deafened by a fleet of eight aircraft overhead, trailing green, white and red plumes behind them.
Rome: Draws | Scores | Order of play
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The unscheduled visit by the Frecce Tricolori, the Italian air force’s national demonstration team, didn’t put Stearns off for long — nor affect a contest that turned into a 2-hour, 41-minute barnburner. The unseeded American went on to win 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(4), ousting a second straight Grand Slam champion to make her second career WTA 1000 quarterfinal.
Stearns, who had also upset Australian Open winner Madison Keys in a third-set tiebreak in the third round, ended Saint-Malo WTA 125 champion Osaka’s eight-match winning streak. The No. 42-ranked American has been thriving on red clay since partnering with new coach Blaz Kavcic ahead of Madrid, where she reached the last 16, and has now become the first player in the Open Era to win consecutive matches in Rome in deciding tiebreaks. The last player to achieve this feat at tour level was Katerina Siniakova in Cleveland last August; no player in the Open Era has ever won three straight matches in third-set tiebreaks.
Stearns will next face either No. 16 seed (and two-time Rome champion) Elina Svitolina or No. 29 seed Danielle Collins.
Stearns edges Osaka in third-set tiebreak to make Rome quarterfinals
Third-set aggression, resilience key for Stearns: Throughout a riveting decider, the Centrale crowd witnessed the rare sight of four-time major champion Osaka repeatedly forced into defense as Stearns relentlessly unleashed her punishing forehand. Osaka rose to the challenge, making for a series of terrific exchanges — but more often than not, Stearns landed the final blow. Aces accounted for 10 of Osaka’s total of 26 winners; off the ground, Stearns had the edge, 26 to 16.
But Stearns also had to withstand serious scoreboard pressure to come away with the win. From 3-3 in the second set, Osaka raised her level to reel off five straight games, the longest uninterrupted stretch of the match, to lead 2-0 in the third. Stearns responded with a four-game run to reach 4-2, only for Osaka to peg her back to 4-4.
The ninth game of the third set was a mini-thriller in itself. Stearns had to save five break points, and came up with clean forehand winners on two of them. In the ensuing tiebreak, she also overturned a 4-2 deficit, sealing her first match point as Osaka netted a backhand.
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