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On Thursday, three Romanians left in the draw played their respective second-round matches at the Transylvania Open. Two of these three players advanced to the quarter-finals. One of these players was Ana Bogdan. Seeded fifth, Bogdan fended off Nikola Bartunkova 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-5 after in a match that finished almost a quarter past three hours.
Bartunkova, the Czech 17-year-old was playing her maiden WTA tournament in Romania this week and had also won the first match of her career on the tour against Dayana Yastremska. Against Bogdan, she looked to be carrying along some of that momentum along.
In the first set, Bartunkova gained the upper hand, after both players traded breaks, long enough to get the set. Bogdan didn’t give up at all despite the setback in the opening set. The 30-year-old played her heart out and first claimed the second set in the tie-break to send the match into the final set.
In the final set, it came down to who held their nerves better and it was Bogdan who was able to do so, prevailing in the final game of regulation time. For the match, Bogdan finished with just four more points than Bartunkova’s 107.
The world no. 73 will play fourth-seeded Rebeka Masarova for a chance to reach the semi-finals. Masarova won her round-of-16 match on Wednesday.
Transylvania Open: End of the road for “Caped Countess” Jaqueline Cristian
Elena-Gabriela Ruse was the second player from the host nation to win her second-round match.
Ruse defeated Anna Bondar of Hungary, 7-6(4), 6-2 in an hour and 59 minutes to enter the quarters. Lastly, Jaqueline Cristian’s time at the Transylvania Open came to an end in the round-of-16. Eva Lys won a comeback clash against Cristian 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 after over two-and-a-half-hours of play.
Lys’ compatriot Tamara Korpatsch also made her way into the quarters after posting an upset over eighth-seeded Jodie Burrage, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(5). Joining Korpatsch in the Transylvania Open quarter-finals was also Jil Teichmann, who won against Emiliana Arango, 6-3, 6-3.
