Petra Martic upset 2018 champion Karolina Pliskova 6-3 6-4 after 1 hour and 35 minutes to reach her fourth quarter finals of the season at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo. Martic now leads 4-3 in their seven head-to-head matches. Martic will face Zhang Shuai in the Round of 16.
Martic saved nine of the ten break points she faced, including four in the fifth game of the second set. The Croatian player hit 17 winners to 22 unforced errors and broke four times.
Martic broke twice in the third and ninth games to seal the first set 6-3. Both players traded breaks in the second and third games of the second set. Martic closed out the match with a break in the 10th game
“I am really happy with today’s match. I expected a tough match and I am just happy to win it”, said Martic.
Liudmila Samsonova beat Wang Xinyu 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 to advance to the quarter final, where she will face Garbine Muguruza.
Samsonova hit 13 aces and faced just two break points.
“It’s not easy to play indoor when you prepare the match outdoors. It was a little bit different condition. I think she is a great player already. My serve today was hopefully good enough to maintain my game”, said Samsonova.
Former world number 1 Naomi Osaka withdrew ahead of her match against Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia due to illness.
Haddad Maia reached the quarter finals by walkover. The South American player will take on number 4 seed Veronika Kudemertova, who cruised past Fernarda Contreras Gomez in just 56 minutes.
Osaka, who who won the Toray Pan Pacific Open tournament when it was temporarily held in Osaka, reached the second round after Daria Seville was forced to withdraw from the match due to knee injury.
“I think the year has not been the best year for me but I think overall I have learned a lot about myself”, said Osaka.
