|
Rome, Aug 8 (IANS) Top-seeded Petra Martic defeated Belarussian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) to advance to the semi-final of the ongoing Palermo Open.
The Croatian will next meet fourth-seeded Anett Kontaveit, who overcame Italian teenager Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, reports Xinhua news agency.
Kontaveit said on Friday she was looking forward to playing against Martic.
"I was doing fitness for a long time," the Estonian said of the break due to the coronavirus pandemic. "I started playing a lot of tennis one and half months ago."
Palermo Open is the first WTA Tour tournament following a five-month break due to the COVID-19.
Players and officials for the tournament are being tested every four days for COVID-19 and one player who tested positive withdrew over the weekend.
New protocols include fewer ball kids, a limited number of fans and no post-match handshakes between opponents.
---IANS
aak/bbh/
Copyright and Disclaimer: All news and images appearing in our news section, search engines and social media are provided by IANS. If you face any issues related to the content/images, please contact our news service provider directly. We are not liable/responsible for any content/images related to the news service provider.
|
