Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina upset second-seeded Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia 7-6 (4), 6-3 on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the BRD Bucharest Open in Romania.
It marks the second time the 20-year-old has reached a semifinal this year. She lost to the Netherlands’ Kiki Bertens in last month’s Libema Open in her first one.
Rybakina will face Italy’s Martina Di Giuseppe in the semifinals. Di Giuseppe posted a 6-4, 6-4 victory over the Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejcikova.
“Of course, I want to play in the finals — winning the tournament would be perfect,” Rybakina said after her win. “I’ve already played one semifinal on WTA, so I’m just focusing on the next match.”
Sixth-seeded Laura Siegemund of Germany and unseeded Romanian Patricia Maria Tig will meet in the other semifinal. Siegemund prevailed 7-5, 6-2 over Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu, and Tig recorded a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over eighth-seeded Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic.
Ladies Open Lausanne
Third-seeded Alize Cornet of France rallied to notch a 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 triumph over Russia’s Natalia Vikhlyantseva to reach the semifinals in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Cornet converted eight of 12 break points while posting the comeback win.
“What I like about this match is that I found a solution inside myself to turn this match back around, and in the end I got through in three sets playing really smart tennis,” Cornet said after her match. “I’m very proud and happy.”
Cornet will next face Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch, who registered a 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 win over Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann.
American Bernarda Pera and France’s Fiona Ferro will square off in the other semifinal. Pera recorded a 6-0, 5-7, 6-3 victory over China’s Xinyun Han, and Ferro rolled to a 6-4, 6-2 win over Australia’s Samantha Stosur.
–Field Level Media
