Top seed Veronika Kudermetova of Russia ended Swiss teenager Celine Naef’s run in the quarterfinals with a straight-set victory, 6-3, 6-2, on Friday at the Libema Open in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.
Kudermetova, 26, is ranked 14th in the world. She had the edge in aces, 5-0, and was on the better side of double faults — two total to seven for Naef, a 17-year-old ranked No. 202.
Kudermetova moves on to the semifinals Saturday against unseeded Slovak Viktoria Hruncakova, who knocked off Ashlyn Krueger 6-4, 6-4, to reach her first WTA semifinal since 2019. Hruncakova, ranked No. 144, was in this tournament’s semifinal in 2018.
No. 4 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia advanced to the semifinals with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Emina Bektas in 1 hour, 14 minutes.
Alexandrova’s semifinal opponent is Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus. Sasnovich moved past second seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia, who retired in the second set. Sasnovich, the seventh seed, was leading 7-6 (4), 3-1 when the match was stopped.
Rothesay Open
Only unseeded players remain in Nottingham, England, where qualifier Heather Watson of Great Britain edged Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland 7-6 (2), 7-5 to reach her first WTA semifinal since Birmingham in 2021.
Watson will face wild card Katie Boulter in an all-British semifinal on Saturday. Boulter, in advancing to her first career WTA semifinal, defeated countrywoman Harriet Dart for the fourth time in their five meetings, 6-3, 7-5. It was the first all-British quarterfinal at the WTA level since Wellington in 1992 when Monique Javier topped Clare Wood.
Also Friday, Alize Cornet of France outlasted Elizabeth Mandlik in three sets, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, and Great Britain’s Jodie Burrage likewise dispensed of Poland’s Magdalena Frech 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.
–Field Level Media
