Tennis player Karolína Plíšková deflected three matchwords in the quarterfinals on the popular clay in Rome by Jelena Ostapenková, she won 4: 6, 7: 5 and 7: 6 over Latvia in two hours and twenty minutes and is in the semifinals for the first time this season.
Petra Martičová from Croatia will be the opponent of last year’s finalist and winner of the 2019 tournament on Saturday.
Twenty-nine-year-old Plíšková and Ostapenková improved her balance to 5: 3. She defeated the 2017 Roland Garros winner four times after losing the first set.
The struggle in Rome had a wild course. Plíšková lost 0: 4 at the beginning, then leveled to 4: 4 and lost four games in a row again. Vabank’s tennis opponents tried to face patience and emphasis during the return after Latvia’s second serve. As a result, she served 5: 4 to win the second set, but did not call the set ratio until an ace two games later.
In the third set, Plíšková went to the break twice and always lost the advantage every time. She, too, was under pressure after her second service, so she tried to take more risks and made a total of thirteen double mistakes. Three in the state of 4: 5, and therefore she faced three swordballs, but she helped herself with all of them. She moved the set into a tie-break with a curious “pig” and ended the battle with seven balls in a row.
Plíšková is in the semifinals for the first time in seven months and again in Rome. Last year, the tournament was not played until the second half of September due to coronavirus. With Martičová, who has been led by former Roland Garros winner Italian Francesca Schiavone since this year’s clay season, she has a balance of 2: 4.
In the men’s part of the tournament, the Spaniard Rafael Nadal repaid the week-old defeat from Madrid to Alexander Zverev and defeated the Germans 6: 3, 6: 4. The clay phenomenon, which will strive for the 14th title on the upcoming Roland Garros, advanced to the semi-twelfth in Rome.
Men’s and Women’s Tennis Tournament in Rome (clay):
Women (subsidy 1,577,613 euros):
Singles – Quarterfinals: Karolina Pliskova (9-CR) – Ostapenkova (LVA) 4: 6, 7: 5, 7: 6 (7: 1), Marticova (Croatia) – Pegulaova (USA) 7: 5, 6: 4.
Doubles Quarterfinals: Mladenovicová, Vondroušová (Fr./ČR) – Krejčíková, Siniaková (2-CR) 2: 6, 6: 4, 10: 3.
Men (grant 2,082,960 euros):
Singles – Quarterfinals: Nadal (2-Sp.) – A. Zverev (6-DEU) 6: 3, 6: 4, Opelka (USA) – Delbonis (ARG) 7: 5, 7: 6 (7: 2).
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