SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER!
 
 
Facebook Social Button Twitter Social Button Follow Us on InstagramYouTube Social Button
NewsScoresRankingsLucky Letcord PodcastShopPro GearPickleballGear Sale


By Adrianna Outlaw | Wednesday, July 22, 2015

 
Sara Errani

Top-seeded Sara Errani was a 6-4, 6-4 winner, while No. 2 seed Samantha Stosur swept Klara Koukalova, 6-1, 6-0 in Bad Gastein.

Photo credit: Nurnberger Gastein Ladies

Altitude in the Austrian Alps can create tricky conditions on court in Bad Gastein. Sara Errani and Samantha Stosur navigated the rare air hitting the heavy ball.

The top-seeded Errani saved eight of 11 break points defeating qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich, 6-4, 6-4, to reach the second round.

Video: How Stars Shape Up For Summer

The 19th-ranked Italian, who was runner-up to Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in Bucharest last week, scored her ninth win in her last 11 clay-court matches.

"It's never easy to play here," Errani told WTATennis.com. The altitude makes it very different and the ball is flying, which I didn't have much time to practice and she was playing great — it was not easy to play for me."

The second-seeded Stosur used her heavy topspin to back up veteran Klara Koukalova in a 6-1, 6-0 blow out that spanned just 49 minutes.

"I guess the score looked pretty easy, but you never can let up in matches even if you feel like you're going really comfortably," Stosur said. "I've been in enough matches where it's turned around to know that you have to stay concentrated and keep doing all the right things to make sure you finish it off."

The world No. 23 reached her second quarterfinal of the season. Stosur, who won the Strasbourg title on red clay in May, will play Danka Kovinic for a semifinal spot. Kovinic beat lucky loser Richel Hogenkamp, 6-3, 6-1.

Schmiedlova stretched her winning streak to six matches rallying for a 3-6, 6-2, 6-0 victory over Austrian wild card Patricia Mayr-Achleitner. German Annika Beck beat Denisa Allertova, 6-2, 6-3.

Polona Hercog exploited 11 double faults from Lucie Hradecka, topping the fifth-seeded Czech, 6-3, 6-2. Hercog will play either third-seeded Karin Knapp or Bastad champion Johanna Larsson for a place in the final four.    

 

Latest News