Laura Mair continues to play her way into the spotlight. © Diego Runggaldier

Laura Mair continues to cause a stir in Val Gardena

The fourth day of play at the $25.000 tournament in Ortisei was characterized by a mix of surprises, dominant performances and pure excitement. All of the round of XNUMX matches in singles and two quarter-final matches in doubles were on the tightly packed schedule.

05 December 2024

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While some seeded players were able to do their homework and thus underline their status as favorites, others had to throw in the towel. Local hero Laura Mair and TC Rungg star Silvia Ambrosio in particular shone with impressive performances and caused cheers among the fans. A review.

Of the seven seeded players remaining at the start of the fourth day of the tournament, only three remained at the end: top seed Justina Mikulskyte from Lithuania had a tough job ahead of her against Russian Ekaterina Ovcharenko, but kept the upper hand with 6:3, 6:3. Equally successful were number 7 seed Iva Primorac (from Croatia | 6:1, 6:1 against Danish qualifier Olga Helmi) and fourth seed Australian Tina Nadine Smith (7:5, 6:2 in a high-class match against Italian mega-talent Angelica Sara).

Justina Mikulskyte won in two sets. © Diego Runggaldier

The remaining favorites had a more difficult time: Selva finalist Stacey Fung (from Canada, number 5 in the tournament) had to pay tribute to the strains of the past few weeks and was forced to retire in the third set against Weronika Falkowska from Poland. Tena Lukas (from Croatia), ranked number 3, lost to an inspired Serbian Mia Ristic 4:6, 3:6. Sofia Rocchetti (number 8 in the seeding list) and Tereza Valentova (number 2 in the tournament) also had a difficult time - due to the absolutely brilliant performances of two athletes with a connection to South Tyrolean tennis.

Mair and Ambrosio delight audience

Laura Mair (TC Gherdeina | WTA No. 754) and Silvia Ambrosio (TC Rungg | WTA No. 460) had a brilliant day. Mair dominated Rocchetti at will with her aggressive, powerful groundstrokes and hit a series of winners in the 6:1, 6:2, while Ambrosio played an almost perfect first set against the reigning French Open junior champion Valentova from the Czech Republic, brilliantly withstood an increase in performance from her opponent in the second set and repeatedly maintained the upper hand in intense, long rallies. The final score was 6:1, 6:4.

Silvia Ambrosio gave a strong performance. © Diego Runggaldier

In the doubles quarter-finals, however, things did not go so well from South Tyrol's point of view: the young duo consisting of Sofia Selle and Anna Costaperaria (she made her debut on the ITF tour in Ortisei) had to admit defeat to Elisabeth and Christine Junge-Ilges with 3:6, 1:6.

This is what Thursday brings

On Thursday, the four singles quarter-finals will take place on the Ortisei Centre Court. Laura Mair will face Australian Tina Nadine Smith, while Silvia Ambrosio will face Federica Urgesi in the Derby tra Azzurre. Justina Mikulskyte and Iva Primorac and Mia Ristic and Weronika Falkowska will also face off. The two doubles semi-finals will take place on Court 1.

Results ITF Val Gardena South Tyrol

Singles, Round of 16:
[1] Justina Mikulskyte – Ekaterina Ovcharenko 6:3, 6:3
[Q] Olga Helmi – [7] Iva Primorac 4:6, 3:6
[3] Tena Lukas – Mia Ristic 4:6, 3:6
Weronika Falkowska – [5] Stacey Fung 4:6, 6:0, 3:0 Task Fung
[8] Sofia Rocchetti – [WC] Laura Mair 1:6, 2:6
[WC] Angelica Sara – [4] Tina Nadine Smith 5:7, 2:6
Federica Urgesi – [Q] Noemi Maines 6:3, 7:6(4)
Silvia Ambrosio – [2] Tereza Valentova 6:1, 6:4

Doubles, quarterfinals:
[1] Weronika Falkowska/Lisa Zaar – Mia Ristic/Milana Zhabrailova 6:3, 7:5
[4] Christine Junge-Ilges/Elisabeth Junge-Ilges – Anna Costaperaria/Sofia Selle 6:3, 6:1