PALERMO, Italy – No. 6 seed Oceane Dodin of France outlasted Russia’s Vitalia Diatchenko 7-6 (7), 6-4 in one hour and 54 minutes to reach the quarter-finals at the Palermo Ladies Open.
Dodin converted 7 of 10 break points while Diatchenko landed 6 of her 13 chances.
Each player served for set point once during their lengthy first-set tiebreak before Dodin capitalized on her second opportunity to win it 9-7.
In the quarters, Dodin will face Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian, who beat China’s Qinwen Zheng 6-1, 6-4.
Lucia Bronzetti of Italy also advanced in her home country, beating American Grace Min 6-3, 6-1, Reuters reported.
Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania moved on via walkover when No. 3 seed Jil Teichmann of Switzerland withdrew due to a left thigh injury.
Former champion Jil Teichmann was forced to pull out of the Palermo Ladies Open on Wednesday because of injury, AP reported.
The third-seeded Teichmann, who won the title in 2019, had to withdraw shortly before the start of her second round match against Elena Gabriela Ruse because of a left thigh problem.
Ruse of Romania will face home favorite Lucia Bronzetti in the quarterfinals after the Italian beat Grace Min of the United States 6-3, 6-1.
Another Romanian is also through to the quarterfinals after Jaqueline Cristian defeated Chinese qualifier Zheng Qinwen 6-1, 6-4.
Cristian next plays sixth-seeded Oceane Dodin of France after she survived a scare to beat Russian veteran Vitalia Diatchenko 7-6 (7), 6-4.
Dodin had to save a set point and also come back from 4-2 down in the second set. Elsewhere, Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia upset No. 7 seed Varvara Gracheva of Russia 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-5 in two hours and 33 minutes in Gdynia, Poland.
Kuzmova will meet Belgian Maryna Zanevska in the second round after she took care of American Jamie Loeb 6-2, 6-0, in just an hour and one minute.
The tournament’s second round also got underway Wednesday as Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch and Hungary’s Anna Bondar won their respective matches.
Korpatsch knocked out Poland’s Weronika Falkowska 7-5, 6-1, and Bondar took three sets to overcome Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-1.
Romanian No. 10 seed Irina Bara and Slovakia’s Kristina Kucova saw their match suspended in the third set due to darkness, with Bara leading 6-3, 5-7, 4-2.
