Maria Sakkari prevailed in a top clash of quarterfinals day in WTA 250 Linz tournament. The Greek, seeded with #1 in Linz, defeated the Croatian in straight sets, but the match brought some intense battle, especially in 2nd set. Vekic was playing well during first two rounds in Austria, being considered as the most dangerous opponent for Sakkari on the road to the trophy this week. Shape of the draw matched those two players as early as in quarterfinal though.
First set contained no much story, as Sakkari gained a break advantage in 4th game and took care of it till the end, clinching the set with a 6-3 score. It was just one moment of weakness from Vekic which decided the set, as it contained just one single breakpoint, which made a score difference.
Second set brought much more drama and momentum switches. Sakkari broke Vekic in first game and was in the driver seat to grab the whole victory. It was a long set to go since then though, as Vekic leveled the score in 4th game. Sakkari was still working on her victory, gaining another break in 7th game and securing a big trouble in the next one, making a huge hold within own serve besides being 0-40 down. Once the match probably going to the end, Vekic defended the matchpoint on Sakkari's serve in 10th game and lenghtened the match which was seemingly over. The tiebreak was no less emotional, as the Croatian build up a mini-break advantage and had as many as 5 set points, but did not convert any of it. Sakkari won the last three points of the tie-break, coming back almost out of nowhere there and securing the victory after an epic set which lasted 86 minutes. 6-3 7-6(8) is the final score.
Another Croatian waits for Sakkari in the semis, as Petra Martic defeated Clara Tauson in straight sets 6-4 7-5. Second semifinal's line-up will be set-up by Marketa Vondrousova and Anastasia Potapova. The Czech was facing Dalma Galfi, but the match did not last long as the Hungarian withdrew after 5 games due to an injur. Potapova fought a three-setter against Anna Lena Friedsam. The Russian lost the opening set easily, but gave not too much chances for the German in the following parts of the match, winning it in 2-6 6-4 6-1.
