Google News Astana Open: Yulia Putintseva, Alison van Uytvanck survive seeds' exodus
by ABBEY JOHNSON | VIEW 3608
There were a handful of upsets in the second-round action at the Astana Open in Nur-Sultan on Wednesday. Third seed Kristina Mladenovic was the highest seed who exited the event. Anastasia Potapova defeated the French player 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 in two hours and nine minutes to clinch her spot in the quarter-finals.
Mladenovic started out the match by playing clutch as she raced through the opening set. However, her game spiralled erratically across the latter two sets and it was the Russian who was able to exert better control over the match.
In the quarter-finals, Potapova will take on sixth seed Rebecca Peterson. The Swede didn’t face any problems against the home player, Zarina Diyas going on to claim a 6-2, 6-2 victory in an hour and 33 minutes.
Astana Open: Russians have a field day in round-of-16
Potapova’s compatriot, Anastasia Gasanova scored an upset over fifth seed Ana Konjuh in their second-round match.
Like Potapova, Gasanova, too, came from a set down to win the match, 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 in two hours and 36 minutes. Although Konjuh won more first-serve points – 61% to her opponent’s 56%, the latter did better when it came to winning second-serve points – 53% to Konjuh’s 42%.
While Gasanova did well to hold her nerves to win the second set and level the match, she was almost unplayable in the decider. Gasanova finished the match with 112 points to Konjuh’s 106. For a place in the semi-finals, Gasanova will play top seed Yulia Putintseva.
The Kazakh needed an hour and 31 minutes to wrap up a 6-4, 6-4 win against Vera Lapko. Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian posted the last upset of the day against eighth-seeded Clara Burel. Cristian won 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-2 in an hour and 58 minutes to reach the quarter-finals.
Next up for Cristian is Aleksandra Krunic. Krunic ousted Kaja Juvan 6-4, 6-3 in 69 minutes. At the bottom of the draw at the Astana Open, seventh seed Varvara Gracheva will play second seed Alison van Uytvanck in the quarters.
The Russian came through against Lesia Tsurenko, 6-2, 6-4. The Belgian needed three sets to beat Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in their second-round clash. Photo Credit: Astana Open Twitter