Quebecer Leylah Annie Fernandez reached the semi-finals of a tournament for the first time in 19 months on Friday when she beat Linda Fruhvirtova 7-6 (2), 6-2 at the Hong Kong Open.
Fernandez placed almost 80% of his first balls in play in addition to taking advantage of three of the seven break points offered by his opponent, while saving four out of five on his side.
The 19e 21-year-old world racket will face Anna Blinkova in the final four. The fifth seed showed the exit to Sara Sorribes Tormo 7-6 (3), 6-3.
The other semi-final will pit Martina Trevisan and Katerina Siniakova against each other.
Trevisan defeated third seed Elise Mertens 6-4, 6-3. Siniakova, for her part, triumphed over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6 (1), 6-4.
Pegula moves to Seoul
At the Korean Open, American Jessica Pegula reached the semi-finals by eliminating Claire Liu 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
The fourth racket in the world, who wants to win a fourth tournament this season, will face Yanina Wickmayer, who defeated Polina Kudermetova 6-3, 6-1.
Another American, Emina Bektas, also reached the final four by defeating Kimberly Birrell 4-6, 6-3, 6-2. Ranked 116e in the world, Bektas will face Yuan Yue, who defeated fourth seed Marie Bouzkova 7-5, 7-6 (7).
Kasatkina advances without playing
Finally, at the Zhengzhou Open, Daria Kasatkina moved to the semi-finals without playing the quarters. She took advantage of Ons Jabeur’s retirement due to a knee injury suffered in the second round.
Kasatkina will face Barbora Krejcikova, who led 6-3 in front of Lesia Tsurenko when the Ukrainian withdrew.
Jasmine Paolini, who eliminated favorite Victoria Azarenka in the previous round, continued her journey by defeating Laura Siegemund 6-0, 7-5. She will face Qinwen Zheng, who defeated Anhelina Kalinina 6-3, 6-2.