After Thursday’s jam-packed schedule that forced most players to play one match after the other, Friday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia was more laid back with just four women’s singles matches taking place as Kiki Bertens, Johanna Konta, Karolina Pliskova and Maria Sakkari reached the semifinals.
Sixth seed Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands advanced without play, as world No.1 Naomi Osaka withdrew ahead of their quarterfinal because of an unexpected and awkward hand injury:
I didn’t feel anything yesterday. That’s why I’m kind of confused right now because I literally woke up in the morning and couldn’t move my thumb. So I was like, maybe I slept on it and maybe it will go away, but it didn’t.
Next up for in-form Bertens is British world No.42 Johanna Konta, who celebrated her birthday with a 6-3 3-6 6-1 win over teenager Marketa Vondrousova.
In the only quarterfinal that featured two well-rested players, Czech fourth seed Karolina Pliskova beat fellow former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka 6-7(5) 6-2 6-2 to record her 500th career win. Pliskova’s opponent in the semis will be world No.39 Maria Sakkari of Greece, who won a clash of qualifiers against Kristina Mladenovic 5-7 6-3 6-0 in the evening.
MORE PHOTOS FROM THE 2019 INTERNAZIONALI BNL D’ITALIA:
- Thursday: Quarterfinals set as Osaka, Bertens, Vondrousova, Konta, Mladenovic, Sakkari win two matches in one day
- Tuesday: Azarenka stuns twice defending champion Svitolina
- Monday: The Williams sisters start clay season with wins
