Friday’s schedule at the Upper Austria Ladies Linz featured all four quarterfinal matches and three of the tournament’s Top 4 seeds advanced to the semis.
Seed No.1 Aryna Sabalenka didn’t enjoy a fulfilling victory today, as her opponent Oceane Dodin injured her right ankle and had to retire from the match in the second set. The world No.11 Sabalenka came to Linz on the wings of her last month’s J&T Banka Ostrava Open title. The Belarusian will be a Top 10 player in the season-ending rankings for the first time in her career if she wins her upcoming match against unseeded Barbora Krejcikova, who opened Friday’s action with a straightforward 6-3 6-1 win over Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Second seed Elise Mertens overcame a slow start to dispatch No.5 seed Veronika Kudermetova 6-4 6-1. The Belgian’s semifinal opponent will be Ekaterina Alexandrova, as the Russian defeated French Open semifinalist Nadia Podoroska 6-2 6-1 in just 58 minutes.
Jimmie48 is bringing us photos from Friday’s matches, plus some practice session and press conference pics.
MORE PHOTOS FROM THE 2020 UPPER AUSTRIA LADIES LINZ:
- Thursday: Sabalenka, Mertens move into quarterfinals
- Wednesday: Elise Mertens battles past Anhelina Kalinina to reach second round
- Tuesday: Sabalenka starts with victory, Zvonareva wins generational battle
- Monday: Greet Minnen knocks out Dayana Yastremska in first round
