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Ann Li, champion in Tenerife last week, played and won her first-round match at the Courmayeur Ladies Open on Wednesday. The American, seeded ninth in the Italian event came from a set down against Russian Kamilla Rakhimova, winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours and four minutes.
Li won 68% of her first-serve points to Rakhimova’s 64% and 63% of her second-serve points to the latter’s 51%. Li saved four of the seven break points she faced while converting four of the eight break points, she had on Rakhimova’s serve.
The 21-year-old finished with 99 points to Rakhimova’s 81 for the match. In the second round, Li will play Magdalena Frech.
Courmayeur Ladies Open: Clara Tauson-Ann Li face-off in the offing
Meanwhile, in the second-round matches that were played on Wednesday, Alison Riske was the only player to be upset.
Anna Kalinskaya ousted the American sixth seed, 6-3, 0-6, 6-3 in an hour and 45 minutes. The Russian saved five of the nine break points she faced while converting four break points. In the end, Riske, despite her loss, finished the match with one more point than Kalinskaya’s 73.
Kalinskaya will play Liudmila Samsonova in a Russian derby in the quarterfinals. The third-seeded Samsonova defeated Aliona Bolsova 6-3, 6-3 in their second-round match in an hour and 12 minutes. Samsonova won 76% of her first-serve points while Bolsova won 56%.
Both players won a near-similar percentage of their second-serve points, around 52%. Samsonova converted four of the eight break points, she had on Bolsova’s serve while saving two of the three break points, she faced.
Samsonova finished the match with 62 points, 14 more than Bolsova’s 48. Dayana Yastremska advanced to the quarterfinals after claiming a hard-fought 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 win over fellow Ukrainian, Kateryna Kozlova. The 10th seed needed an hour and 51 minutes to wrap up the win.
Yastremska awaits Lucrezia Stefanini or seventh seed Jasmine Paolini next. Clara Tauson also moved into the quarters of the Courmayeur Ladies Open with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Giulia Gatto-Monticone in their second-round clash.
The fifth-seeded Dane needed 67 minutes to complete her win. Tauson’s next opponent will be Ann Li, if the latter wins her pre-quarterfinal.