Martic, Kontaveit battle into Palermo quarters

Petra Martic and Anett Kontaveit battled into the Palermo Ladies Open quarter-finals, while Dayana Yastremska cruised through.

Martic, the top seed at the WTA International event that marks the return of the Tour amid the coronavirus pandemic, overcame Liudmila Samsonova 5-7 6-4 6-2.

Croatian Martic, the world number 15, needed two and a half hours to get past the qualifier in Italy on Thursday.

She said it was not a particularly pleasant experience.

“She’s not the type of player I like to play: she plays really fast, hits really flat and low. And especially on these courts it can be tricky,” she said in a video press conference. “Overall I didn’t really enjoy myself out there. But I realized right away that it was not going to be easy and I was going to have to fight.”

She will face Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the last eight.

Yastremska v Giorgi matchup in quarterfinals

Kontaveit was also pushed before recording a 3-6 6-2 6-2 victory over Laura Siegemund.

The No. seed moves

Anett Kontaveit took the match over Siegemund, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.#PLO20 pic.twitter.com/PJeSoDpJ28

— wta (@WTA) August 6, 2020

Yastremska and Camila Giorgi will meet in a quarter-final after respective wins over Oceane Dodin and Kaja Juvan.

Talented Ukrainian seventh seed Yastremska was too good for Dodin 6-2 6-4, while Giorgi beat Juvan 3-6 6-2 6-4 to make it three Italians in the last eight.

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