Belinda Bencic, the highest ranked player in action this week, was forced to withdraw from Hong Kong due to injury, leaving Leylah Fernandez as favorite for the title, while Janice Tjen and Viktorija Golublic took the lead into the semi-finals of the Chennai and Jiangxi Opens respectively on Friday…
She [Sorana Cirstea] always fighting and she is super aggressive so I knew it wouldn’t be easy. I was playing really well and then I found a few mistakes here and there, but she also stepped up. Overall it was a good match and I’m happy to get the win. Leila Fernandez
WTA 250 Prudential Hong Kong Open, China
Top seed Belinda Bencic was forced to withdraw ahead of her quarter-final against Spain’s Cristina Bucsa due to a thigh injury as the Canadians set up a semi-final meeting.
Bencic, the world number 11 from Switzerland, looked a strong contender for the title and was yet to drop a set in Hong Kong when she suffered the injury.
“I am so disappointed that I have to withdraw from my quarterfinal match here in Hong Kong today due to my thigh injury,” Bencic wrote on Instagram. “I really enjoyed my time in Hong Kong.
“I’ve been playing a lot of tennis in recent weeks and have done everything I can to stay healthy, but that wasn’t to be. I would definitely love to come back next year and play in Hong Kong! Thank you all for the warm welcome and great hospitality.”
Bucsa, who has been given an extra day of rest, goes into Saturday’s semi-final fresh against teenage star Maya Joint after the Australian defeated Japanese qualifier Himeno Sakatsume 6-4 2-6 6-4.
Twice in the first set Sakatsume caused a break, but both times Joint got the match back on track in no time.
After falling 2-4 behind, she won the remaining four games and took a set over her opponent, a lead that was quickly erased after the Japanese led 3-0 early in the second before forcing a decider with a late break.
A solitary break in the third gave the Aussie the chance to take the lead 3–2, and after a thrilling final game, Joint crossed the line on her second match point to set up a match with Bucsa in the semi-finals.
Two Canadians are having a blast in Hong Kong, with Victoria Mboko and Leylah Fernandez advancing to the semi-finals where they will face each other.
In her quarterfinal match, Mboko advanced past sixth seed Anna Kalinskaya, 6-1, 3-1, as the Russian withdrew from the match after sustaining an injury.
It was a dominant first set from the 19-year-old Canadian, who saved an early break point before rolling past Kalinskaya and winning five games to comfortably take the opener.
After Kalinskaya took the lead in the second, Mboko won three more games to take a commanding lead, putting her in pole position for the match, but the Russian called it quits the day after persistent injury problems, having called the physio twice in the match.
Mboko will face Fernandez in the semi-finals, with a Canadian guaranteed to be in the final of the Hong Kong Open.
The former US Open finalist secured a 6-4 6-4 victory over Romanian Sorana Cirstea. Both failed to grab a pair of break points in the first set before Fernandez finally took the advantage, taking the lead 4-3 before serving out the match comfortably.
Fernandez was quickest to break in the second and went ahead in the first game before winning three more in a row to sprint to a 4-0 lead.
Although she then squandered match points on the Romanian’s server before Cirstea got one of the breaks back to 4-5, Fernandez eventually served out the score after an hour and 44 minutes to close out Friday’s quarter-final.
“She always fights and is super aggressive, so I knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Fernandez said afterwards. “I played really well and then I found a few mistakes here and there, but she also went one step further. It was a good match overall and I’m just happy to get the win.”
Fernandez improves to 2-0 against Cirstea to reach the Hong Kong semi-finals for the third year in a row after winning the 2023 tournament.
It is also the 23-year-old’s second semi-final on the Asian swing after winning the title in Osaka, and it sets up an all-Canadian semi-final between Fernandez and Mboko.
“Victoria, she’s playing really well this week,” Fernandez said after the match. “Not just this week, but this whole year. I’m happy to get another chance in the semi-finals, and to do it against a fellow countryman feels really good. And it’s good for Canadian tennis.”
Seventh seed Kimberly Birrell upset No. 3 seed Donna Vekic in 71 minutes in the quarterfinals of the Chennai Open to advance to her second tour-level semifinal after Osaka in 2024.
WTAtennis.com
WTA 250 Chennai Open, India
Seventh-seeded Australian Kimberly Birrell crushed No. 3 seed Donna Vekic of Croatia 6-4 6-0, without ever facing a break point in the 71-minute encounter, to reach the semi-finals in Chennai, India, where she will meet Taiwan’s Joanna Garland, who converted 7 of 11 break points in a 6-2 7-6(2) quarter-final win against compatriot Arina Rodionova.
Garland came from 3–5 down in the second set to beat lucky loser Rodionova to advance to her first career WTA semifinal.
The 24-year-old becomes the first player from Chinese Taipei to reach a tour-level semi-final since Hsieh Su-Wei in Dubai in 2019.
Janice Tjen, number four from Indonesia, and Lalana Tararudee from Thailand will compete against each other in the other semi-final.
23-year-old Tjen defeated 17-year-old wildcard Mia Pohankova of Slovakia 6-3 6-1 to reach her second semi-final in four WTA main draws so far, while Tararudee won 6-0, 6-2 against Russia’s Polina Iatcenko.
No. 2 seed Viktorija Golubic came from 1-5 down to beat fifth seed Yulia Putintseva in the quarter-finals of the Jiangxi Open, advancing to her first tour-level semi-final since winning the title here 12 months ago.
WTAtennis.com
WTA 250 Jiangxi Open, China
Number 2 seed Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland was the only seed to reach the Last 4, beating Kazakhstan’s 5th seed Yulia Putintseva 7-5 6-2, and will meet Austria’s Lilli Tagger, who was a 6-3 6-4 winner against Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch, for a place in Sunday’s final.
Golubic had to come from 1-5-1 down to get past Putintseva and advance to her first tour-level semi-final since winning the Jiujiang title 12 months ago, while the Swiss also improved to 3-1 overall against the Russian-born Kazakh.
Tagger, the 17-year-old Roland Garros junior champion who is entering her first career WTA main draw as a wild card, defeated Korpatsch in 2 hours and 1 minute to reach her first semifinal of the tour.
Russia’s Anna Blinkova eliminated No. 3 seed Alycia Parks of the US 7-5 7-5 in just under 2 hours to also reach the semi-finals in Jiujiang.
Blinkova held off late attacks from the American in both sets and took advantage of Parks’ whopping 14 double faults to advance to her first tour-level semi-final since Hong Kong 2023, where she will face Dominika Salkova of the Czech Republic, who saved 3 of 4 break points in a 6-3 6-4 win against Chinese hopeful Zhuoxuan Bai.
The 21-year-old Czech reached her first tour-level semi-final of her career after wrestling for 1 hour and 27 minutes.
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