Petra Martić lost in the semi-final of the Birmingham Classic on Saturday to the 30-year-old German player Julia Görges. 

After Friday’s quarter-final of the Birmingham Classic, where Petra Martić was one set down, losing 4:0 in the second, and managed to save five match points for the win in an incredible turnaround against Jelena Ostapenko (6-7, 7-5, 6-1), she was unable to make the magic happen once again for a spot in the final.  

Namely, the Croatian female tennis player lost in the semi-final of the WTA tournament in Birmingham to Germany's Julia Görges, who is 19th on the WTA ranking. The eighth-seed of the tournament celebrated with a score of 6:4, 6:3 after less than 90 minutes of tennis, reports Gol.hr on June 22, 2019.

In the first set, both players held their service, but only until the ninth game when Görges used her first break point. Görges then used her first set point to lead the game 1:0 in sets. 

Martić opened the second set by losing her serve, which was followed by a series of winning two games and a break point for the 3:1 lead. Görges, however, came back to break the Croatian tennis player and ended the match by taking Petra’s serve. 

Petra ended the game without aces and hit 64 percent of her first serve. She also used one of two break points in the match, while Görges used four of the ten she had. 

This was the second encounter of Martić and Görges and the second win of the German player, who also celebrated in Portoroz in 2008.

Despite the defeat, Martić will progress one place on the WTA ladder, and from Monday will be the 24th best female tennis player in the world, which is her new career ranking. Only two places above her is Donna Vekić, Croatia’s best female tennis player on the ranking. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

What a turnaround for Petra Martić! On the verge of conceding defeat, Martić came back stronger than ever and ultimately defeated Jelena Ostapenko with a score of 6-7, 7-5, 6-1 after a little less than two and a half hours of play in a true quarterfinal spectacle at the Birmingham Classic. Petra Martić was one set down, losing 4:0 in the second, and managed to save five match points for the win, reports HRT on June 21, 2019. 

Spectators were already impressed from the start of the first set. Ostapenko first took two of Petra’s serves and led 4-0, but Petra went on to win five games in a row for 5-4. The Latvian player then served for the set, but Petra pushed the match to the 13th game, where Ostapenko was better and won the first set 7-6 (4).

The madness continued into the second set. Ostapenko again led 4-0, but Petra made an incredible comeback! Ostapenko was ready to serve for the match, but Petra took it to 15:40. The game then went to 40:40, but Martić took advantage of her third break point. 

The 10th game saw no less drama - Ostapenko led 0:40, but Martić came back to 40:40. After the eleventh game, Martić secured the second set!

The decisive third set saw the full dominance of our Croatian player who took the serve of her opponent three times! After two hours and 26 minutes of play, it was Martić to celebrate and secure her spot in the semifinal of this WTA tournament.

What a comeback!

Petra Martic saves five match points to defeat Jelena Ostapenko 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-1! #NatureValleyClassic pic.twitter.com/UYosjb1UKn

— WTA (@WTA) June 21, 2019

In the next round, Martić will play against the winner of the game between Kazakhstan’s Yulia Antonovna Putintseva and Germany’s Juliet Goerges.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.