WTA Palermo Ladies Open: Martic marches towards the semis; Giorgi keeps Italian hopes alive
Follow Us
IMG 20200808 124953 scaled
It proved to be another enthralling day of tennis on Friday, at the WTA Palermo Ladies Open in Italy.
Petra Martic overcame the challenge from Aliaksandra Sasnovich to book a semifinal match up against Anett Kontaveit, who put an end to Elisabetta Cocciaretto’s hopes of progressing to the last four.
Sara Errani’s dreams of a third title at Palermo was quashed as she suffered a defeat at the hands of Fiona Ferro. Camila Giorgi kept the Italian hopes alive as she battled her way past Dayana Yastremska to claim a spot in the semifinals against Ferro.
Martic drubs Sasnovich
Top seed Petra Martic booked a spot in her second semifinal of the season with a tight two-set victory over Aliaksandra Sasnovich in Palermo.
The Croatian edged qualifier Sasnovich with a tight 7-6(5), 7-6(3). Martic rallied from a break down in the first set and needed four match points to ultimately seal victory, as she twice served for the match before sealing it in a second tiebreak.
In all, the high-quality affair saw both players produce far more winners than unforced errors, as Martic racked up 54 winners to 23 unforced, while Sasnovich recorded 45 winners to 28 errors.
“Overall, it was a good fight. I knew she wasn’t going to give up until the match was over, and that’s what she proved once again,” Martic said on-court after the match.
“I think today was better than yesterday. There are some things that I was happy with, some things that I’m not really happy with… but I’m really just happy that I managed to win this match in two sets. I had to adjust from my match yesterday [against Liudmila Samsonova]. The points were longer and it was more physical,” Martic told reporters via Zoom after the match.
“It was a tough two sets, but I’m really happy that even though things weren’t going my way at the end of the second set, that I managed to pull through.”
Kontaveit ends Cocciaretto’s fairytale run
No.4 seed Anett Kontaveit ended the fairytale run of Italian teenager Elisabetta Cocciaretto, overcoming the wildcard in a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 quarterfinal victory.
The Estonian No.1 was dominant at the start and finish of the match, steeling herself against a spirited effort from the 19-year-old home favorite that allowed her to capture the second set. Behind 57 winners, five aces and seven breaks of serve, the World No.22 earned herself a spot opposite top seed Petra Martic in Saturday’s semifinals.
“It was really tough tonight. She played great and she had the home crowd definitely behind her,” Kontaveit said on-court after the match. “I’m really happy with how I fought in the third set and that I managed to turn it around in the end.“
“I felt like I started really well and finished really well, but I definitely think she started playing better in the second set,” Kontaveit told reporters via Zoom after the match.
“It got away from me a little bit at the beginning of the second, and I was almost getting back and trying to hang in, but I think she played really well and she managed to play the close points really, really well. She made some really good shots.”
“I was really happy with the way I bounced back from that and started in the third set. I had a really clean third set and felt like I played good tennis,” the Estonian continued.
The semifinal match between Martic and Kontaveit is a rematch of the pair’s quarterfinal meeting from February’s Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, which was won by the Croatian in straight sets, 7-6(4), 6-1.
“She definitely plays really well on clay and she has a great game for it,” Kontaveit said.
“She has a great kick serve, serve in general, and it’s going to be really tough, but I’m ready for it. I’ve had a few tough matches but I feel well physically, so I’m ready to play tomorrow.” she further added.
Ferro downs Errani
Fiona Ferro fired her way into her first semifinal of the 2020 season, as she flummoxed two-time champion Sara Errani, 6-4, 6-1, in the Palermo Ladies Open quarterfinals.
The French player, who won her maiden WTA singles title last year on clay in Lausanne, converted six of her ten break points during the clash, and had 41 winners, more than double her unforced error count of 20.
“I was trying to be more patient, because in the beginning, I think I was rushing things a little bit,” said Ferro, who won nine of the last ten games of the match. “So I just tried to take my time more, and it worked.” she added.
Former World No.5 Errani, the Palermo champion in 2008 and 2012, twice led by a break in the first set, as she hoped to continue the form that brought her a 180th career clay-court match-win in the second round, which leads all active players on the WTA.
However, her steadfast clay-court craft was undone by winning just 38 percent of points off of her first serve during the tilt.
Giorgi quells Yastremska’s challenge
Another late-night epic went the way of the Italians this week, as Camila Giorgi fought past No.7 seed Dayana Yastremska, 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3, to book a spot in the semifinals.
Camila Giorgi kept the hopes for a homeland titlist alive, saving two match points and overcoming No.7 seed Dayana Yastremska after nearly three hours.
Giorgi, the top Italian in the WTA singles rankings, survived two match points in the second set before engineering a stellar comeback to overcome the World No.25 from Ukraine in two hours and 52 minutes, wrapping up the match at nearly 1:30 a.m. local time.
“It was more mental, the match, because I was very close always,” Giorgi said, in her post-match press conference.
“I needed to take the chances in the right way. I took them in the match points for her, and I started to be more aggressive in my game, and I started to move more forward, and tried to dominate the game.”Giorgi added.
Giorgi will now face Fiona Ferro of France in the semifinals. Ferro has slid into the semifinals without the loss of a set, including her quarterfinal win over two-time Palermo champion Sara Errani.
“I think it’s going to be a good match, for sure,” said Giorgi, looking forward to her semifinal. “I’m going to focus on my game and see what I need to improve for tomorrow.” she added.
The first semifinal will be Martic facing off against Kontaveit, followed by the second semifinal in which Giorgi takes on Ferro.
Also Read WTA Palermo Ladies Open: Martic, Kontaveit, Giorgi and Yastremska advance to the quarters
Stay Updated!
Sanjay Sriram
(37 Articles Published)