Top-seeded Clara Tauson of Denmark and third-seeded Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic cruised to victories on Thursday in the second round at the Athens Open in Greece.
Tauson routed Italy’s Miriana Tona, 6-4, 6-0, while Krejcikova dropped only two games in a 6-0, 6-2 triumph over France’s Carole Monnet.
However, second-seeded Ann Li fell to Russian Alina Korneeva, 6-2, 6-2. Li won only 25 of 60 (41.7%) of her service points in the match on the hard courts of Athens.
In the day’s other match, seventh-seeded Czech Tereza Valentova had little trouble with Russia’s Aliaksandra Sasnovich, defeating her 6-3, 6-2. Valentova capitalized on her opponent’s poor second service, winning 16 of 19 points.
In the lone quarterfinal matchup of seeded players on Friday, Tauson will take on fifth-seeded Czech Sara Bejlek. Local favorite and fourth-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece faces Alycia Parks.
Meanwhile, at the UniCredit Iasi Open, Spain’s unseeded Paula Badosa continued her improved play as she outlasted Russia’s Alevtina Ibragimova, 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals on the clay in Romania.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
