August 4, 2020 – Croatian tennis player Donna Vekic (WTA – 24th) became the first winner in the continuation of the season on the WTA Tour, defeating Dutch player Arantxa Rus (WTA – 70th) 6-1, 6-2 in the 1st round match of the WTA tournament in Palermo, Italy. Vekic defeated Rus in 75 minutes of play.
HRT reports that in the 2nd round, Vekic will play against Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto (WTA – 156th), who defeated Slovenian Polona Hercog (WTA – 45th) on Monday.
It took just over half an hour of play for the 24-year-old from Osijek to win the first set in which the 29-year-old Dutch player won the first game, though she struggled to win another after that. Moreover, Vekic won eight games, took the lead with a break advantage in the second set, and had four chances to lead 3-0. Donna missed a few easy forehands and briefly allowed Rus to return to the match.
Rus managed to equalize at 2-2, but Vekic soon regained control of the court, and with a new break for a 4-2 lead, created an advantage that she never lost. With yet another stellar serve, she reached a convincing victory.
Vekic used 6 of the 13 break points and saved three of the four break points Rus had. The Dutch player was particularly vulnerable on her second serve, where she scored just three of 15 points.
In Palermo, the best ranked Croatian tennis player is Petra Martic (WTA – 15th) was set as the first seed, and on Tuesday in the 1st round, she will play against Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck (WTA – 57th).
The prize fund of the women’s tournament Internazionali Femminili di Palermo is 163,000 euro. The tournament is played on outdoor clay courts at the Country Time Club and has been part of the WTA tour since 1990.
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