Volynets, a 21-year-old born in California who is ranked
92nd, was just a point from defeat while trailing 5-0 in the third set and
facing a break point. But she claimed the next three points to hold serve there
and was on her way to the big turnaround.
“At 0-5, I was really like: ‘Please, not a bagel! I really
don’t want to get bageled.’ And then I get that first game, and then I get more
confidence rolling into the second game,” Volynets said. “And honestly, it was
kind of quick.”
She wound up taking 27 of the match’s last 32 points.
“The match,” Volynets said, “was definitely a roller
coaster.”
In January, Volynets qualified for the Australian Open and
reached the third round at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.
Now Volynets will face Peyton Stearns — who won the NCAA
singles championship for the University of Texas last year — for a spot in the
semifinals at the inaugural edition of the hard-court tournament in the state
capital. Stearns got past Mirjam Bjorklund 6-3, 7-5 on Wednesday night in a
match between two wild-card recipients.
The highest-seeded woman left in the field, No. 4 Sloane
Stephens, beat qualifier Heather Watson 6-4, 6-4. Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open
champion, will meet 88th-ranked Varvara Gracheva in the quarterfinals. It’s a
rematch of a contest won by Stephens last week in Merida, Mexico.
Gracheva, who eliminated top-seeded Magda Linette in the
first round in Austin, advanced Wednesday by defeating Anna Blinkova 6-3, 6-7
(5), 6-1 in an all-Russian matchup. -AP