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Qinwen Zheng had to work hard in her second-round match against Diane Parry at the Palermo Ladies Open but eventually prevailed. The second seed took two hours and 46 minutes to post a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 to win against the Frenchwoman.
Zheng won 73% of her first-serve points to Parry’s 64%. However, the world no. 26 won relatively fewer points off her second serve as compared to Parry – 53% to the latter’s 60%. She saved seven of the 10 break points she faced and converted four of eight break points she had on Parry’s serve.
For the match, the 20-year-old won six more points than her 82nd-ranked opponent’s 92. This is the third quarter-final Zheng’s reached this year. Earlier, she’d reached the Abu Dhabi Open quarter-final in February and then the Rome Open quarters in May.
In the quarter-final, Zheng will play seventh seed Emma Navarro. The American defeated Italian Camilla Rosatello, 6-2, 6-1 in just 64 minutes.
Palermo Ladies Open: Yet another home player stutters
Navarro won 85% of her first-serve points to her wildcard opponent’s 50%.
She also won 41% of her second-serve points to the latter’s higher margin of 53%. The world no. 57 faced only break point which she went on to save. She, however, converted four of seven break points that came her way on Rosatello’s serve.
Like with Zheng, this is the third time this year that Navarro’s making it to the quarter-finals of a WTA tournament. Both her previous quarter-finals were in WTA 250s as well, at the Strasbourg Open in May and then at the Bad Homburg Open in June.
The last two second-round matches featured two Spanish players who had contrasting results. France’s Clara Burel defeated Spaniard Cristina Bucsa 6-2, 6-4 in 69 minutes in their second-round match-up. Burel’s next opponent at the Palermo Ladies Open will be the Spaniard who won her match on Wednesday, Sara Sorribes Tormo.
Sorribes Tormo won 6-3, 6-2 against another Italian, Nuria Brancaccio. Photo Credit: Palermo Ladies Open Twitter