Tatjana Maria had to battle through a tough challenge from France's Leolia Jeanjean but the no. 1 seed of the Philippine Women's Open will see action in the Round of 16.
Top seed Tatjana Maria needed over two hours to punch her ticket to the Philippine Women's Open Round of 16, surviving the challenge of Leolia Jeanjean, 7-6(5), 6-4, at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center on Tuesday.
Maria leaned on her superior service game, firing six aces in the two sets to set up a clash against Tatiana Prozorova, who in turn drubbed hometown bet Kaye Emana, 6-1, 6-0.
In the opening set, both players were neck-and-neck, as Jeanjean left Maria frustrated by saving two set points to force a 5-all tie.
Even as Maria overcame six deuces to regain a 6-5 lead, Jeanjean kept herself in the picture by saving another set point in her service game to set up a tiebreaker.
Pushed to the limit, Maria needed another three set points to take the victory, 7-6(5).
In Set 2, Maria was able to seize momentum after holding serve for a 5-3 lead, and then used her next service game to close things out.
Other matches on Tuesday, which was significantly delayed due to rain, saw YeXin Ma upset 8-seed Darja Semenistaja, 6-1, 7-6(6), while Mariia Tkacheva emerged victorious over Sara Saito, 6-2, 6-2.
[RELATED: Day 2 of Philippine Women’s Open hampered by rain delay]
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.