No. 4 seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia held off 19th-seeded compatriot C 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) on Thursday to reach the China Open semifinals in Beijing.
In another quarterfinal clash of countrywomen, No. 26 seed Nikola Bartunkova of the Czech Republic advanced to her first WTA 1000 semifinal with a swift 6-3, 6-0 victory over No. 7 Karolina Muchova.
Andreeva and Bartunkova will meet next. The other half of the bracket features upcoming quarterfinal matches between No. 6 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine vs. China’s Qinwen Zheng, and No. 8 Iga Swiatek of Poland vs. No. 13 Elise Mertens of Belgium.
Andreeva and Alexandrova each broke serve four times in a roller-coaster match. Andreeva led 3-1 in the first set, dropped the next four games and then overcame a 3-2 deficit in the tiebreaker. In the second set, Andreeva raced to a 5-2 lead but Alexandrova again won the next four games.
The victory in one hour and 53 minutes was Andreeva’s first in three meetings with Alexandrova.
“Even when I had an advantage in the second set leading 5-2, I felt like she was still pressuring me,” Andreeva said in her post-match interview. “I felt like she was playing better and I didn’t take my chances. I could have played more aggressive, but what a match this was. I’m super happy with how it went.
“She played unbelievable today, and I’m very happy to get my very first win against her.”
At 19, Andreeva became the youngest Beijing semifinalist since Hungary’s Agnes Szavay in 2007. It is her fourth career WTA 1000 semifinal, second only to Coco Gauff (five) among teenagers since the format was introduced in 2009.
The 20-year-old Bartunkova needed only 67 minutes to finish off Muchova. She converted five of 16 break points and finished her third career win against a top-10 opponent with three aces and zero double faults.
Bartunkova admitted her run in the Chinese capital has surprised her.
“For sure (I didn’t expect it) before this tournament,” she said in her press conference. “I played lot of practices with top players — Swiatek, Gauff, others. Maybe it helps little bit. (It) was one week before the tournament. I tried to play a lot of practices, lot of matches. I think that was the reason I had good preparation for this tournament. So yeah, I had confidence. But honestly I didn’t expect these results.”
–Field Level Media
