Katerina Siniakova stuns Serena Williams to reach Parma quarterfinal

Katerina Siniakova stuns top seed Serena Williams, 7-6 (4), 6-2, for one of the biggest wins of her career at the Emilia-Romagna Open in Parma.

"I feel amazing," a delighted Siniakova said in her on-court interview. "It was a fantastic match and I played so good. I'm so happy I could finish like this. It was really a pleasure to share the court with her."

The former WTA doubles No. 1 earned her first Top 10 win in nearly two years and will likely send Williams to Roland Garros having won just one match since February, winning 16 of the final 18 points to advance in 94 minutes on Center Court.

"It means a lot and shows me I can play well if I'm focused, calm, and ready for every point," she continued in her post-match press conference. "I would be really happy if I could keep it like this because it was a really great match from me, but not every day can be this amazing. I'll keep it in mind and try to continue playing my best."

Williams was playing just her fourth event of 2021 and her second after bowing out of the Australian Open semifinals, taking a wildcard into Parma after enduring an opening round defeat at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia to Nadia Podoroska.

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Fresh off a solid win over Italian qualifier Lisa Pigato, Williams faced far more experienced competition in Siniakova, a top doubles talent with solid singles credentials and five previous Top 10 wins. The 25-year-old ousted then-world No. 1 Naomi Osaka at Roland Garros in 2019 and began this year’s clay-court swing with a quarterfinal run in Istanbul.

Siniakova stuck with Serena on serve throughout the opening set, saving a set point in the tenth game to turn the tables on the 23-time Grand Slam champion, breaking for a shot to serve it out. Though Williams broke straight back to force a tiebreaker, Siniakova remained in front, surging ahead 5-3 to ultimately seal things with a service winner.

"Against a player like this, you really have nothing to lose, so I really just wanted to enjoy this. In the beginning, I was so nervous, but at 1-1, everything came down I was feeling so free and easy that things started going my way. I should really try harder to feel like this in every match because you really should be enjoying what you're doing. That's what I'm trying to find."

The second set began with an exchange of breaks as an increasingly frustrated American struggled to find her range. Siniakova capitalized on some loose shots to reel off an astonishing 15 straight points to find herself up 5-2 and triple match point on Williams' serve.

"I was just trying to tell myself to keep fighting," Siniakova said. "I didn't make a lot of mistakes so I think she felt that and was trying to hit even harder. She ended up making quite a few mistakes, which helped me, so I was happy I could keep my level all match."

Though the three-time French Open champion snapped the streak and saved the first two, the Czech wouldn't be denied on the third, forcing a forehand long from the former world No. 1 to edge over the finish line and into her second quarterfinal of the season.

"[The title] is still far away. Every match will be really hard and now I will have the pressure because I defeated such a great player. I will enjoy it and I'm happy I can still continue. I will try to play my best in my next match."

Awaiting her there will be either No. 8 seed Caroline Garcia or German qualifier Anna-Lena Friedsam.

Coco Gauff backed up her run to the semifinals of Rome with a dramatic debut in Parma, edging past the always dangerous Kaia Kanepi in a pair of tiebreaks, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (7).

The American teenager, seeded No. 3 this week, enjoyed a career-best run on clay last week with a win over Mutua Madrid Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, and the 2018 junior Roland Garros champion was immediately up against it with Kanepi, a former world No. 15 who started the year with her own win over Sabalenka before ending Sofia Kenin's Australian Open title defense in Melbourne.

Taking on the Estonian for the first time, Gauff rallied from 5-3 down in the opening set and later saved a set point in the tiebreaker, taking that momentum into a 5-1 lead in the second. Kanepi rebounded to force a second Sudden Death and this time held two set points to force a decider.

Gauff held her nerve far better in the tensest moments. Kanepi, by contrast, threw in a double fault on her first set point and missed a return on the second, opening the door for the young American to win the match on her first opportunity.

Her road to the quarterfinals only intensifies as she next faces Italian dynamo Camila Giorgi, who outlasted American Christina McHale in three titanic sets on Monday.

Following Gauff and Siniakova, Sloane Stephens took Center Court by storm to play a thrilling three-setter against Daria Kasatkina, reversing a first set deficit and recovering from multiple breaks down in the second and third sets to upset the No. 4 seed, 1-6, 6-4, 7-5. Stephens improves to 3-0 against the Russian on clay and will next face either No. 7 seed Sara Sorribes Tormo or 2012 Roland Garros runner-up Sara Errani.

Rounding out the Americans in action was Amanda Anisimova. The No. 5 seed ended Anna Karolina Schmiedlova's run after the Slovak ousted Venus Williams in the first round, 6-2, 6-4. Into the quarterfinals, Anisimova will next play either Gauff or Giorgi.