Petra Martic (WTA – 79th), the only remaining Croatian representative at the WTA 1000 tournament in Indian Wells, advanced to the quarter-finals on Tuesday, defeating 23-year-old Russian Ludmilla Samsonova (WTA – 32nd) 7-6 (6), 6- 4 in one hour and 54 minutes of play.
It was the fourth meeting between the two tennis players and the fourth victory for the 31-year-old from Duće.
Martić started the match better, took a 3-0 lead, and held the advantage until the seventh game when the Russian reached her first and only break in the match. The decision to win the first set fell in a tie-break in which Samsonova took a 3-1 lead. However, Samsonova made too many mistakes and after 65 minutes, Martić came to a significant advantage.
In the second set, Petra served excellently and lost only one point in the first four service games. In the fifth and seventh games, Martić missed one break opportunity to break Samsonova’s serve in the ninth game. The Russian had one chance to return in the tenth game, but she blew it with one of many unforced errors, and two points later, the Croatian tennis player used the first match point.
Thus, for the second time in her career, Martić reached the quarter-finals in Indian Wells, just like in 2018. Her rival for the semifinals will be Romanian Simona Halep (WTA – 26th), who was better than Sorana Cirstea in the round of 16 with 6- 1, 6-4.
Martić played three matches against the former first tennis player in the world and lost twice. Their quarter-final match at Indian Wells four years ago was their last, and in it, Halep celebrated in three sets, coming back from 1-3 in the third set.
After this tournament, Petra will significantly jump on the WTA list. Before Indian Wells, she was 79th and is currently the 58th best female tennis player in the world.
Source: HRT
To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.
