Unseeded Tamara Zidansek downed talented teenager Linda Fruhvirtova 63 46 64 to reach the quarterfinals at the 2023 Thailand Open presented by E@ .
In what was undoubtedly the match of the day lasting two hours and 57 minutes, Zidansek, from Slovenia, absorbed an awesome display of power-hitting by the Czech seventeen year-old and held on after having leads in both the second and third sets to secure her place in the last eight:
“I feel like she started just hitting the ball really well when I was up in the second set four-one and also in the third set five-two, so I really had to finish it off by myself. Like she didn’t give me anything, so it was tough and I’m really, really happy that I managed to do it.
“She moves really well and uses the angles and when she has the chance, she really goes for it. I like the surface here because it’s a little bit slower, which allowed me to use a little bit more topspin and make my game possible, run around the forehand and move her.”
“I’m really happy because last year wasn’t the best year for me after the Australian tour and I’m fit now, I’m healthy and I’m finally playing the way I want to, I just need to get a few wins and I’m really happy with the way I managed myself on the court.”
Also through to the quarterfinals are doubles partners Zhu Lin and Wang Xinyu, from China, who scored wins over Korea’s Su Jeong Jang and Sweden’s Mirjam Bjorklund respectively.
Despite not feeling her best Zhu Lin battled to the win against her Korean opponent on a very hot afternoon in Hua Hin:
“It was a super tough match for me, I’m not feeling 100% today. Honestly I didn’t sleep well last night so it was tough, every set I was like one-three down or three-four down. I was just telling myself never give up, try to be more patient in the rallies. It’s always difficult to play against her, every time we play each other was like, a super tough match.”
“Today the conditions have changed a lot. So today is very hot, very humid. So this makes it tougher, especially after long rallies. I feel like I have no time to adjust, so I must take more time. Maybe use the towel a bit more and then just try to stay calm.”
Following on Centre Court 21 year-old Wang Xinyu stayed focused to wrap up a straight sets win over Bjorklund 63 63:
“It was a tough match because I know she’s going to be up and down but when she plays good, she plays really well. Like she was just smacking the ball a few games but I just kind of kept fighting there and tried to be aggressive from the very beginning, tried to take the advantage. I’m very happy that I won today.”
Lin and Wang both headed back on court and won their first-round doubles match against Natalija Stevanovic and Anastasia Tikhonova in a third set match tie-break 62 46 10-7.
Securing the final singles quarterfinal spot on offer on Wednesday Lesia Tsurenko upset fourth seed Anna Kalinskaya 60 67(3) 64 in a late-night finish.
Results – Wednesday, Feb 1
R16 – L. Tsurenko (UKR) d. [4] A. Kalinskaya 60 67(3) 64
R16 – T. Zidansek (SLO) d. [8] L. Fruhvirtova (CZE) 63 46 64
R16 – L. Zhu (CHN) d. S. J. Jang (KOR) 64 76(6)
R16 – [7] X. Wang (CHN) d. M. Bjorklund (SWE) 63 63
R16 – [WC] X. Han (CHN) / B. Mattek-Sands (USA) d. Y. Bonaventure (BEL) / E. Yashina 63 75
R16 – N. Han (KOR) / S. J. Jang (KOR) d. A. Gabueva / A. Zakharova 63 57 10-2
R16 – X. Wang (CHN) / L. Zhu (CHN) d. [ALT] N. Stevanovic (SRB) / A. Tikhonova 62 46 10-7
