Pennetta survives Palermo epic

Flavia Pennetta survived a near three-hour epic to beat Mathilde Johansson and reach the quarter-finals of the Palermo Open.

Pennetta twice fought back from a break down in the final set to edge a 4-6 7-5 7-5 victory in two hours and 50 minutes and keep alive her hopes of regaining the title she won in 2009.
Pennetta will face sixth seed Tsvetana Pironkova in the last eight after the Bulgarian continued her fine post-Wimbledon form with a 2-6 6-1 6-1 win over Romania's Sorana Cirstea.
Seventh seed Polona Hercog disappointed the Italian fans by dispatching Alberta Brianti 6-2 6-4 while eighth seed Petra Cetkovska was a 6-2 6-4 winner over Uzbekistan's Akgul Amanmuradova.