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She next faces 24-year-old Estonian fourth seed
Anett Kontaveit who hit 57 winners to end Italian teenager
Elisabetta Cocciaretto's dream run with a 6-1 4-6 6-1 win.
Martic, having come through a gruelling three-setter with
Liudmila Samsonova on Thursday, was forced to concede a break in
the opening set against Sasnovich before fighting back to take
it to a tiebreak in which she prevailed.
The Croatian then established a 4-1 lead in the second set and
looked to be headed for a straightforward victory before
Sasnovich clawed her way back, saving three match points until
Martic converted the fourth in the tiebreak.
"I had to adjust from my match yesterday. The points were longer
and it was more physical," Martic told reporters in a virtual
news conference.
"It was a tough two sets, but I'm really happy that, even though
things weren't going my way at the end of the second set, I
managed to pull through.
The tournament is the first in five months since the Tour was
suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Martic said she felt
the effects of not playing competitive tennis for so long.
"I had two tough matches and my body's holding up well. I have
no major issues," Martic added. "Just maybe soreness that I'm
sure we all have in the first tournament back. It feels nice to
be reminded of how it feels to be that kind of tired."
Wildcard Cocciaretto had upset sixth seed Donna Vekic in the
second round but struggled against Kontaveit as she lost the
first set. The Italian recovered to win the second but Kontaveit
raised her level to claim the final four games in the third.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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