In Wednesday’s second-round action at the Palermo Ladies Open, Sara Errani recorded a tour-leading 180th career win on clay, while her fellow Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto made the first WTA quarterfinals of her young career.
In a two-hour match interrupted by brief torrential rain, wildcard Sara Errani thrilled Italian fans by battling past Kristyna Pliskova 3-6 6-4 6-3. After falling short in the first set, the 2008 and 2012 Palermo champion Errani faced no break points in the second set, thanks to her 90% first serve percentage (even though her opponent was almost as spectacular with 83%) and a crucial break at 3-2 in the decider helped extend her long history claycourt dominance.
Nineteen-year-old Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto, ranked 157th in the world, closed the first half of second-round action with a 6-2 6-4 upset of sixth seed Donna Vekic, advancing into her first ever quarterfinal fifteen minutes before midnight in Palermo.
Earlier on Wednesday, world No.53 Fiona Ferro of France, who during the coronavirus lockdown enjoyed the privilege of having a private tennis court, opened second-round action with a 7-5 6-2 upset of Russian eighth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova. It is the second Top 30 victory in the 23-year-old Ferro’s career.
Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich saved 8/8 break points to beat Italian Jasmine Paolini with a dominant 6-0 6-2 scoreline to reach the quarterfinals.
In the gallery below, Jimmie48 is providing us with photos from all these four second-round matches.
MORE PHOTOS FROM THE 2020 PALERMO LADIES OPEN:
- Tuesday: Juvan upsets Vondrousova, Kontaveit wraps up first-round action
- Monday: Vekic wins first main-draw WTA match after coronavirus hiatus, Pliskova closes the day at 2 a.m.
- Sunday: Smiles under masks as players welcome the return of competition
- Saturday: Tennis finally returns after a five-month coronavirus shutdown
