Slovenian tennis player Tamara Zidansek punched her ticket to the semifinals of the UniCredit Iasi Open in Romania on Friday, defeating second-seeded Petra Marcinko of Croatia by scores of 6-3 and 7-5. Zidansek was especially effective at capitalizing on opportunities, converting six of her ten break point chances throughout the match.
Zidansek closed out the victory by taking the final two games of the second set. She will now go up against Spain’s Paula Badosa in the semifinals. Badosa earned her spot by defeating fifth-seeded Panna Udvardy of Hungary 6-4, 7-6 (2).
In other quarterfinal action at the Iasi Open, third-seeded Oleksandra Oliynykova topped France’s Clara Burel 6-4, 7-5. Egypt’s Mayar Sherif also advanced after a tough three-set battle against ninth-seeded Yulia Putintseva of Russia, winning 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (5).
At the Athens Open, Denmark’s Clara Tauson, the tournament’s top seed, rolled through her quarterfinal matchup against fifth-seeded Czech player Sara Bejlek 6-2, 6-3. Tauson was sharp on her first serve, winning 69.7 percent of those points — going 23 for 33.
Tauson’s next opponent will be third-seeded Barbora Krejcikova of Czechia, who advanced despite committing 32 unforced errors and six double faults in a 6-4, 6-4 win over China’s Qinwen Zheng. Zheng actually held a 25-11 advantage in winners but was undone by 41 unforced errors and seven double faults of her own.
Fourth-seeded Maria Sakkari delivered a crowd-pleasing performance in her hometown, defeating Alycia Parks 6-4, 6-3. Russia’s Alina Korneeva also advanced, knocking out seventh-seeded Tereza Valentova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-3.
