As the seeds keep tumbling down at the WTA Palermo Ladies Open, the top seed and World No.15 Petra Martic is alive and kicking. The Croatian will headline a busy day four which will also feature an intriguing clash of styles between Dayana Yastremska and Oceane Dodin.<\/p>\n
Who will book their places in the quarterfinals?<\/p>\n
Head-to-head:<\/strong> First meeting<\/p>\n As many as three seeds departed on Day 2 at the WTA Palermo Ladies Open, including the No.2 seen, Marketa Vondrousova.<\/p>\n Top seed Petra Martic, however, made a real statement of intent with a 6-0 6-3 win over Belgium\u2019s Alison Van Uytvanck. The World No.15 completed that whitewash in just over an hour and she looked every inch of a player bidding to win a second career title this weekend.<\/p>\n Martic\u2019s next assignment will come in the form of Russian qualifier Ludmilla Samsonova, for whom these are home courts of sort. The 21-year-old has actually lived in Italy since she was one year old and competed under its flag until 2018, before making the switch to Russia. Incidentally, Samsonova\u2019s big breakthrough arrived at this very tournament last season. She reached the semifinals as a lucky loser (the first and thus far only time at WTA level) before bowing out to the eventual champion Jil Teichmann.<\/p>\n Samsonova\u2019s clutch serving and controlled power from the baseline will be a test for the experienced Martic, but given how imperious the Croatian tore Van Uytvanck to shreds in her opener, it is hard to see any other result here.
\nPrediction: Martic in 2<\/em><\/p>\n