Ingrid Martins and Laura Pigossi win a thrilling match and seek the final of the Rio Ladies Open this Friday

Playing at home in Barra da Tijuca, where she lives, Rio de Janeiro native Ingrid Martins and her partner, São Paulo native Laura Pigossi, an Olympic bronze medalist, took another step toward the Rio Ladies Open title, the WTA 125 in Rio de Janeiro, held at Techset Academy. Playing in front of a strong crowd on Center Court, the Brazilians defeated Burundian tennis player Sada Nahimana and Frenchwoman Carole Monnet in straight sets, with scores of 6-2, 5-7, 10-8.

The pair will play again in the Night Session this Friday (17), not before 7 pm, against the duo of Croatian Tara Wuerth with Spanish Leyre Gormaz, who beat the duo of Brazilian Ana Candiotto and Argentine Julia Riera, 6/0 7/6 (3). Another Brazilian duo, Luiza Fullana and Thaísa Pedretti, was beaten by Spanish Irene Burrillo and Georgian Ekaterina Gorgodze, 6/1 6/4.

"It was definitely a very tough match, the girls played really well. We managed to impose ourselves early on, and in the important moments, we dominated the net. In the second set, we lost a match point at 5-3 on serve, and they loosened up, but we stayed alive, and playing at home is always good. The fans helped a lot, and in the super tie-break, it was all about the heart," said Pigossi.

"In important moments, like the super tie-break, the bravest one wins; we're very aware of that. We think big; it takes some of the pressure off. We focus on execution, on being aggressive, playing our game. With the mindset of everything we wanted to do," added Ingrid.

Brazilians say goodbye to singles

In the singles draw, Carol Meligeni and Thaisa Pedretti bowed out in the round of 16 against Austrians. Carol defeated sixth seed Sinja Kraus 6-4 6-4, while Pedretti was defeated by third seed Julia Grabher 6-4 6-2.

The singles quarterfinals will pit top seed Simona Waltert of Switzerland against Tara Wuerth of Croatia, Grabher against Kraus, Alicia Rame of France against Martina Colmegna of Italy and Sada Nahimana of Burundi against Ekaterine Gorgodze of Georgia.

Results for this Thursday (16)

Singles - Round of 16

[3] Julia Grabher (AUT) d. [Q] Thaisa G. Pedretti (BRA) - 6/4 6/2

[6] Sinja Kraus (AUT) d. Carolina Meligeni (BRA) - 6/4 6/4

[1] Simona Waltert (SUI) d. Miriana Tona (ITA) - 6/2 6/3

Martina Colmegna (ITA) d. [Q] Martina Capurro Taborda (ARG) - 6/4 3/6 6/0

Doubles - Quarterfinals

[3] Leyre Romero Gormaz (ESP) / Tara Wuerth (CRO) d. Ana Candiotto (BRA) / Julia Riera (ARG) - 6/0 7/6

Tina Smith (AUS) / Miriana Tona (ITA) d. [2] Panna Udvardy (HUN) / Simona Waltert (SUI) - 3/6 7/5 10-3

Irene Burillo (ESP) / Ekaterine Gorgodze (GEO) d. Luiza Fullana (BRA) / Thaisa G. Pedretti (BRA) - 6/1 6/4

[1] Ingrid Martins (BRA) / Laura Pigossi (BRA) d. Carole Monnet (FRA) / Sada Nahimana (BDI) - 6/2 5/7 10-8

Schedule for this Friday (17):

Central Court

3pm

[1] Simona Waltert (SUI) vs Tara Wuerth (CRO)

Next

[3] Julia Grabher (AUT) vs [6] Sinja Kraus (AUT)

7pm

[1] Ingrid Martins (BRA) / Laura Pigossi (BRA) vs [3] Leyre Romero Gormaz (ESP) / Tara Wuerth (CRO)

Block 2

3pm

Sada Nahimana (BDI) vs Ekaterine Gorgodze (GEO)

Next

Alice Rame (FRA) vs Martina Colmegna (ITA)

Not before 7pm

[4] Irene Burillo (ESP) / Ekaterine Gorgodze (GEO) vs Tina Smith (AUS) / Miriana Tona (ITA)

Tickets on sale

Tickets for the Rio Ladies Open are still on sale at www.rioladiesopen.com

The Rio Ladies Open is sponsored by MundoTênis Tours, ENGIE Brasil, BRB, and Decathlon. Organized by: MundoTênis Tours. Co-organized by: Brazilian Tennis Confederation.