FILE PHOTO: WTA Premier – Dubai Tennis Championships – Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium, Dubai, UAE – February 21, 2020 Petra Martic of Croatia in action during her semifinal against Elena Rybakina REUTERS / Ahmed Jadallah of Kazakhstan
(Reuters) – Seeded Petra Martic was forced to recover from a set down to beat Russian qualifier Liudmila Samsonova 5-7 6-4 6-2 and secure her spot in the quarter-finals of the Palermo Ladies Open on Thursday.
Samsonova, ranked over 100 positions under Martic, impressed in the opening set to break the Croatian and take command of the match, but the 21-year-old soon found that beating a top 20 wasn’t an easy task as Martic dug.
As the sun set in Sicily, Martic looked rejuvenated when the lights came on, making it past the last set in 35 minutes without conceding a single break point and finishing the 2-1 / 2 hour game with an ace to advance.
“The fight was real out there today,” Martic said. “He’s not the kind of player I like to play. It plays very fast, flat, low, on this court it can be tricky with bad rebounds.
“Overall, I didn’t really enjoy it. I just had to fight. ”
Previously, fourth-seeded Anett Kontaveit also had to come back after losing the opening set to Germany’s Laura Siegemund before winning 3-6 6-2 6-2.
The 24-year-old Estonian had time to adapt as Siegemund set the pace in the early stages, but broke the German twice in the second set to take the 3-0 lead before closing the set.
Kontaveit took control in the third set, breaking Siegemund twice to win, but not before saving four match points in the final match.
“Laura is a really tough opponent and I really felt like I had to raise my game in the second set and play more aggressively,” said Kontaveit. “I think that’s what made the difference after the first set.”
Reportage by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru, edited by Pritha Sarkar
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