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Anett Kontaveit made it through to the semi-finals of the Hamburg European Open on Thursday. The tournament’s no. 1 seed advanced after her opponent, Germany’s eighth seed, Andrea Petkovic retired in their match with an injury.
The Estonian was leading 6-0, 2-0 at the time of the latter’s mid-match retirement. Kontaveit will play Anastasia Potapova for a chance to make it to the finals. Potapova upset third seed Barbora Krejcikova 6-1, 6-3 in an hour and 11 minutes.
Potapova won 63% of her first-serve points and 59% of points on return on the Czech’s first serve. Both players struggled to win points on their second serve although Potapova fared better than the 2021 French Open winner winning 38% of her second-serve points to the latter’s 21%.
Potapova lost her serve thrice in the match but broke Krejcikova seven times in the match. Kontaveit and Potapova have met each other only once before, in 2018, at the Moscow Open. The world no. 2 won that clash in straight sets.
Hamburg European Open: Bernarda Pera adds one more to her streak
Meanwhile, in the bottom half of the draw in Hamburg, seventh seed Maryna Zanevska and Bernarda Pera have set up the other semi-final. The Belgian beat fourth seed Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-4, 7-5 in an hour and 35 minutes.
Zanevska broke Sasnovich seven times in the match but also lost her serve five times. She won almost 57% of her first-serve points to Sasnovich’s 48%. In the last quarter-final, Pera who’s now won eight main draw matches in a row going back to Budapest last week, ousted Krejcikova’s doubles partner Katerina Siniakova, 6-3, 6-1 in an hour and 11 minutes.
The American won 79% of her first-serve points and 50% of her second-serve points. She also saved both break points she faced while converting four breaks on Siniakova’s serve. Their semi-final match-up at the Hamburg European Open will be the third time Maryna Zanevska and Bernarda Pera will be taking on each other. Both players have split their two previous encounters.