The United States’ Hailey Baptiste defeated Russia’s fifth-seeded Liudmila Samsonova on Thursday on the indoor hard court’s only three-set match, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open in the United Arab Emirates.
Baptiste took advantage of her four aces compared to Samsonova’s zero. Baptiste advances to face Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, the No. 2 seed who won convincingly against the Philippines’ Alexandra Eala, 6-3, 6-3.
The Czech Republic’s Sara Bejlek needed just 63 minutes to earn a 6-0, 6-2 win against the United Kingdom’s Sonay Kartal. Denmark’s third-seeded Clara Tauson handled the United States’ McCartney Kessler 6-3, 6-4, and will face Bejlek in the other semifinal.
Ostrava Open
No seeded players remain alive entering the semifinals after Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch took down No. 6 seed Caty McNally 6-4, 6-2 in Ostrava, Czech Republic.
Korpatsch moves on to face France’s Diane Parry, who skated past Nikola Bartunkova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-3 in 66 minutes.
The other semifinal will pit Great Britain’s Katie Boulter against American Katie Volynets. Boulter won 18 of 23 first-service points and beat Czech foe Linda Fruhvirtova 6-3, 6-2 in 68 minutes, while Volynets rallied to beat countrywoman Alycia Parks 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
Transylvania Open
Top seed Emma Raducanu of Great Britain kept her perfect week going with a 6-0, 6-4 triumph over Poland’s Maja Chwalinska in the quarterfinals in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Raducanu dropped only one service point in the first set as she cruised to victory. Her semifinal opponent will be Ukraine’s Oleksandra Oliynykova, who upset fourth seed Xinyu Wang of China 6-4, 6-4.
No. 3 seed Sorana Cirstea saved 5 of 7 break points as she took down No. 5 seed Anastasia Potapova of Austria. Cirstea also will face a Ukrainian in the semis, Daria Snigur, who charged past China’s Yue Yuan 4-6, 6-0, 7-5.
–Field Level Media
