Google News Palermo Ladies Open: Yulia Putintseva, Caroline Garcia claim pre-quarter-final berths
by ABBEY JOHNSON
Yulia Putintseva won her opening round at the Palermo Ladies Open on Tuesday. The Kazakh beat Australian lucky loser Jaimee Fourlis 6-3, 6-1 in an hour and 15 minutes. Putintseva won almost 76% of her first-serve points to Fourlis’ 38% and although she failed to save both break points she faced, Putintseva secured six breaks on her opponent’s serve to come through the clash without any problems.
In the second round, Putintseva will play Diane Parry. The Frenchwoman defeated American Lauren Davis 7-6(5), 6-2 in their opener in an hour and 46 minutes. Fifth seed Caroline Garcia made a forceful comeback against fellow Frenchwoman, Chloe Paquet in their first-round clash.
Garcia needed two hours and 12 minutes to win 6-7(2), 6-2, 6-2.
Palermo Ladies Open: Caroline Garcia battles hard
Garcia broke Paquet in the sixth game of the first set and although she was broken right back, she secured a second break of serve in the eighth game to go up 5-3 with the chance to serve the set in the ninth game.
However, she was broken to love and no further breaks came about on Paquet’s serve in the 10th game. In the tie-break, Paquet ran with the set to take the lead in the match. Across the latter two sets Garcia, however, ensured that she didn’t stumble and give her opponent any chance to make inroads back into the proceedings.
Looking to make it to the quarters next, Garcia will play Elisabetta Cocciaretto. Cocciaretto won the Italian derby against Sara Errani 6-1, 6-0 in 57 minutes. Italians had a mixed day in their home event on Tuesday. Hungarian Panna Udvardy defeated Lucrezia Stefanini 6-1, 7-6(4) in their opening-round match.
However, Lucia Bronzetti beat China’s Xiyu Wang 6-3, 6-3 in their opener. Lastly, Martina Trevisan was forced to pull out of the tournament after sustaining an injury to her back. Brazil’s Carolina Alves who replaced Trevisan as a lucky loser, meanwhile, lost her opener to Elina Avanesyan.
After two hours and five minutes of play, Avanesyan won 6-2, 5-7, 6-1. Udvardy will next play seventh seed Anna Bondar. Bondar beat France’s Clara Burel 6-4, 6-4 in the first round. Bronzetti will take on Avanesyan for a chance to reach the quarter-finals.
Lastly, eighth-seeded Nuria Parrizas Diaz and Julie Grabher set up a second-round clash against each other at the Palermo Ladies Open. The Spaniard beat Asia Muhammad 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 while the Austrian won against Xinyu Wang 6-3, 6-3.