TENNIS- Italian tennis veteran Francesca Schiavone, who is now ranked World Number 85, fought back from 3-5 down in the second set to edge Camila Giorgi 6-4 7-6 (8-6) in a very tight match and got through to the quarter final of the BNP Paribas Tournament in Istanbul. Diego Sampaolo
Schiavone broke serve in the fifth game of the first set at 2-2. In the first set Schiavone did not face a single break point and won 88 percent of her first serve points en route to winning it with 6-4. In the second set Giorgi broke serve for the first time in the match to open up a 4-2 lead but she was broken back after committing a series of double faults. Giorgi broke serve and served for the second set at 5-3 but Schiavone broke back for 4-5. The second set came down to the tie-break where both players got a lot of mini-breaks. Giorgi saved the first match point but Schiavone sealed the win on the second match point opportunity
In the quarter finals Schiavone will face Kirsten Flipkens, who recovered from a set down to overcome Alizé Cornet with 2-6 6-1 6-2. Kateryna Bondarenko, who upset Venus Williams earlier this week, edged Mona Barthel 6-3 4-6 6-2. Tsvetana Pironkova from Bulgaria beat Kurumi Nara 6-3 1-6 6-1-
Bad Gastein: Errani saved a match point to reach the quarter finals
Sara Errani saved a match point in the third set to battle past Maryna Zanevska in three sets with 6-2 4-6 7-5. The 2012 Roland Garros finalist cruised to a 6-2 2-0 lead but Zanevska recovered by reeling off 11 of the next 15 games to win the second set with 6-4 and open up a 5-2 lead in the third set. The Ukrainian qualifier served for the match and got a match point. Errani survived the scare by fending off the match point and clinched a hard-fought win.
“I was winning 6-2 2-0 but then I started to miss one thousand balls. She was starting to play much better from there. From the baseline I couldn’t do any points. It was difficult to win two points. It was a really difficult match for me”, said Errani
In the quarter finals Errani will face Russian qualifier Darya Kasalkina who recovered from 3-6 0-2 to battle past Julia Georges with 3-6 6-4 6-3
Ana Karolina Schmiedlova, who beat Errani last Sunday in the Bucharest final with 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 after an hour and 13 minute marathon first set, advanced to the quarter finals after her rival Andrea Mitu pulled out with a shoulder injury after dropping the first set 6-1
