June 6, 2019 – After the second round of the WTA Croatia Bol Open, Croatia no longer has a representative in the tournament. Namely, the last remaining Croatian, Tereza Mrdeža, was kicked by German Laura Siegmund in an exhausting match that lasted two hours and 45 minutes. The final result was 3:6, 7:6 (5) 1 for Siegmund.
Tereza Mrdeža had a good chance to qualify in the quarterfinals after taking the first set, in the second led 3:1, and had three breaks for 4:1 which she did not use. Siegmund then led 6:5, but Mrdeža reached a tie-break. In the decisive 13th game of the second set, Mrdeža led 5:4 and took two of Siegmund’s services. Siegmund, however, turned the game around to her advantage, and with 7:5 had a tie-break and equalized to 1:1 in sets.
In the third set, the experienced German picked up her game, and Mrdeža did not have the strength for a real fight.
“In the last games, this has happened a lot. It’s almost over and I need to play to the end, and then I miss it,” Mrdeža said, adding: “She picked up her game when it was the most critical, I knew she would not give me cheap points in this match, I knew how to play and in the end I let her dictate it. I probably also need to believe in myself, that I can really do it,” she concluded.
Switzerland’s Timea Bacsinszky won 6:2, 6:4 against Japan’s Nao Hibino.
“I did not have a light month and it has tortured me. My level of play has not been good, but today, I was pleased. I hope I can keep it up, I had good tactics and I’m happy. Hibino played well, and now I have to keep it up,” Bacsinszky said.
Last year’s winner Tamara Zidanšek suffered, but managed to beat Switzerland’s Stefanie Voegele 3:6, 6:2, 6:3.
Also convincing was Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo who beat Varvara Flink 6:3, 6:2, while Aleksandra Krunić, the 2017 winner, defeated Ana Bogdan 6:2, 6:1. Switzerland’s Jill Teichman beat Belgium’s Ysaline Bonaventure 6:2, 6:2.
The real drama was seen in the match between Germany’s Anne-Lena Friedsam and Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. After losing the first set 4:6, Schmiedlova won the second 6:0. In the final set, the decision fell into a tie-break, where Schmiedlova won 7:6.
DAY THREE
S. Sorribes Tormo (ESP) – V. Flink (RUS) 6:3, 6:2
A. Krunic (SRB) – A. Bogdan (ROU) 6:2, 6:1
L. Siegemund (GER) – T. Mrdeza (CRO) 3:6, 7:6 (5), 6:1
K. Juvan (SLO) – [5] A. Sharma (AUS) 6:1, 6:0
T. Zidansek (SLO) – S. Voegele (SUI) 3:6, 6:2, 6:3
A. Friedsam (GER) – [4] A. Schmiedlova (SVK) 6:4, 0:6, 6:7
T. Bacsinszky (SUI) – N. Hibino (JPN) 6:2, 6:4
J. Teichmann (SUI) – Y. Bonaventure (BEL) 6:2, 6:2
You can read more about the tournament here.
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