Kruger goes down fighting against top seed Pigossi at WIPHOLD International

After standing out as the top South African player in the tournament, Isabella Kruger admitted she had to work hard to put up a fight on Thursday, but she was delighted to gain more valuable experience on day three of the WIPHOLD International in Pretoria.

Turning out in the quarterfinals at the ITF World Tennis Tour W50 event, Kruger came up against top seed Laura Pigossi of Brazil, who showed her class by wrapping up a 6-1 6-4 victory.

Though she was unable to mount much of a challenge in the opening set, Kruger was pleased to put up more resistance in the second set.

"The match today was tough. My opponent was really solid, and she brought back a lot of balls," Kruger said.

"In the first set I struggled to get into the match but as soon as I got a little more comfortable, I was able to compete a little bit better in the second set, so I'm happy with that.

"I still have a lot to learn, but I can take a lot from this match, so I'm excited."

Kruger goes down fighting at WIPHOLD International💪

South Africa's Isabella Kruger put up a fight in the quarters but went down to top seed Laura Pigossi 6-1 6-4. Nevertheless, she was delighted to gain more valuable experience.

Impressive effort, Bella#WIPHOLDinternational pic.twitter.com/vNzUtkS0EB

— Tennis South Africa (@TennisSA) February 22, 2024

Pigossi was the only one of the top three seeds remaining in the main singles draw, with Gabriela Knutson of the Czech Republic being handed a stunning defeat.

Knutson, the No 2 seed, won the first set against No 8 seed Manon Leonard of France, but her opponent clawed her way back and went on to wrap up a 2-6 6-3 6-3 win.

Chinese player Xiaodi You, the tournament's No 3 seed, had also crashed out of contention the day before.

Meanwhile, in the doubles competition, there was also a shock defeat for top seeds Kayla Mcphee and Alexandra Osborne of Australia.

They fell to Dutch player Indy de Vroome and Dutch partner Amelie van Impe who earned a 6-2 6-4 victory to book their spot in the semifinals.

The penultimate round of both the doubles and singles competitions will be contested on Friday.

QUARTERFINAL RESULTS

Singles

Lina Glushko (ISR) bt Kylah Mcphee (AUS) 6-3, 7-6

[4] Guiomar Maristany Zuleta de Reales (ESP) bt [5] Isabella Shinikova (BUL) 6-4, 6-3

[8] Manon Leonard (FRA) bt [2] Gabriela Knutson (CZE) 2-6, 6-3, 6-3

[1] Laura Pigossi (BRA) bt Isabella Kruger (RSA) 6-1, 6-4

Doubles

Indy De Vroome (NED)/ Amelie Van Impe (BEL) bt [1] Kaylah Mcphee (AUS)/ Alexandra Osborne (AUS) 6-2, 6-4

[2] Rina Saigo (JPN)/ Yukina Saigo (JPN) bt Guiomar Maristany Zuleta de Reales (ESP)/ Ekaterina Reyngold 4-3 Ret.

[3] Sofia Costoulas (BEL)/ Hanne Vandewinkel (BEL) bt Paris Corley (USA)/ Jaeda Daniel (USA) 6-4, 6-0

Lina Glushko (ISR)/ Gabriela Knutson (CZE) bt [4] Polina Iatchenko/ Isabella Shinikova (BUL) 6-2, 6-1