PARIS, France – Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) continued her dominant play in Paris with another straight-set win over [31] Petra Martic. The 19-year-old had lost all four of her previous meetings against Martic, with the most recent loss coming in the finals of a WTA International event in April.
Vondrousova struck first in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal appearance, but the lead did not last long. After breaking Martic in the fifth game, Vondrousova quickly went down 5-3 in the opening set and saw the momentum swing.
However, the turning point in the match came with Vondrousova serving down 5-6, 0-40. Showing no signs of nerves, Vondrousova fired off three straight winners and reeled off 12 of the next 13 points to win the first set in a tiebreaker, 7-1.
Having won all of her matches in straight sets leading up to the quarterfinals, Vondrousova put herself in a winning position. She continued her crafty play into the second set and arrived at a match point at 5-2. But, Martic would not go away easily.
Also looking to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal, Martic escaped a long deuce game, saving both match points she faced, and eventually leveled the set at 5-5.
With the pressure mounting, Vondrousova seemed unfazed. In one of the biggest moments of her career, Vondrousova strung together two clean games and maintained her composure to close out the match in exactly two hours, 7-6, 7-5.
Entering Roland Garros, the Czech teenager had only won a total of six matches in Grand Slams throughout her young career. On Thursday, she will be looking to double her win total when she takes on [26] Johanna Konta for a spot in the finals.
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Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) – EZONE 100 / POLYTOUR AIR 125 def. [31] Petra Martic, 7-6, 7-5