Even though the Palermo Ladies Open quarterfinals featured as many as three Italian players, none of them will be in the final, as unseeded Fiona Ferro eliminated the last Italian standing Camila Giorgi in Saturday’s semifinals to join fourth seed Anett Kontaveit in Sunday’s title match.
In the first semifinal on Saturday, world No.22 Anett Kontaveit broke twice to dominantly seal the opening set against Petra Martic before recovering from dropping her serve in the first game of the second set to win 6-2 6-4 in one and a half hours. The top-seeded Martic struggled with her movement, hitting 14 winners to 25 unforced errors, as opposed to Kontaveit’s 31 winners to 17 unforced errors.
The 24-year-old Estonian will return to the Top 20 at No.20 and that is the highest she can climb this week, even if if she wins her second WTA title on Sunday in Palermo.
In a semifinal encounter of unseeded players, world No.53 Fiona Ferro rallied from a set down and stayed strong in the decider to end the inspiring run of home favorite Camila Giorgi, who had saved two match points and overcame 12 double-faults to make the final four late last night.
The 89th-ranked Giorgi raced through the opening set, but Ferro benefited from an early break in the second set and continued the momentum into the decider which she opened with a 3-1 lead. The Italian managed to level the third set to 5-5, but Ferro broke her serve once again and sealed the deal with her service game for a 2-6 6-2 7-5 triumph.
Ferro’s run to the final ensures her rise to a career-high ranking of No.47 and she can go as high as No.44 with the Palermo Ladies Open title.
Fiona has been really good this week and many of us in France are happy to see her rise and be French n°1 soon! She’s consistent, nice and drama-free!
She does not wear New Balance anymore?
Virginie, before the tour’s resumption, Ferro performed well at a series of exhibitions in the south of France, posting a 10-0 record including wins over Mladenovic and Cornet, as I read at the WTA website. When it comes to her New Balance sponsorship, she’s apparently been wearing some generic clothing this week in Palermo, Nike shoes and occasionally a New Balance visor. If she continues to rise, I guess she’ll land a good new clothing deal soon.