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Daria Kasatkina took her place in the quarter-finals of the Palermo Ladies Open on Thursday. The world no. 11, who’s the highest seed this week in the tournament, needed an hour and 24 minutes to score a straight-sets win over Tatiana Prozorova.
Kasatkina won 6-3, 6-1. Kasatkina did struggle to win points off her second serve. But she was able to win a higher margin of points on return on her opponent’s second serve that helped her seize the momentum and the match.
The 26-year-old won 76% of her first-serve points and only 41% of her second-serve points. But she also won 13 of 18 points played on Prozorova’s second serve. Kasatkina converted six break points on her opponent’s serve while saving two of four break points she faced.
Looking to reach the semi-finals, Kasatkina will now take on fifth seed Jasmine Paolini. The Italian fought from a set down to take out Dayana Yastremska. After two hours and 10 minutes of play, Paolini won 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Palermo Ladies Open: Jasmine Paolini, Camila Osorio grind it out in R16
The opening two sets saw both players not play at their best but the decider went only in favour of Paolini.
The 27-year-old won 80% points each off her first and second serve. She also won 75% points on return on the Ukrainian’s second serve. She didn’t face any break point across the set but converted two break points to get past her opponent.
Another player who’d to make a comeback after losing the first set was Camila Osorio. The Colombian eventually clinched a 6-7(3), 6-0, 6-2 win over Erika Andreeva in two hours and 48 minutes. In the latter two sets, Osorio faced a total of four break points.
Of these, two came in the second set and two in the decider. The world no. 74 saved both break points she faced in the second set but wasn’t able to do the same in the third set. She, however, converted seven break points of the nine that came her way on Andreeva’s serve in the last two sets combined.
Osorio’s rival in the quarter-finals will be Mayar Sherif. The Egyptian third seed won 6-3, 6-3 against Sofya Lansere in 80 minutes. The Palermo Ladies Open’s the third tournament this year in which Sherif’s made it to the quarters after the Abierto GNP Seguros in February and the Mutua Madrid Open in May. Photo Credit: Palermo Ladies Open Twitter