Garbine Muguruza, Rafael Nadal advance in Ohio

MASON, Ohio — Garbine Muguruza fought off Svetlana Kuznetsova to reach the Western & Southern Open semifinals with a 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 win on Friday.

The Wimbledon champion clinched her second straight W&S semifinal berth with a forehand deep into the corner that Kuznetsova could only steer into the net.

“I think it was one of the best matches of the year,” Muguruza said. “I think we both played very well, especially in the third set. I know I won, but I’m sure she feels like it was a great match as well, because it was a tough battle and very hot out there.”

Top-seeded Rafael Nadal advanced to the men’s quarterfinals with a 7-6 (1), 6-2 win over fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas in a match that was scheduled to be played on Thursday but never got started.

Nadal, who is 4-0 in his career against Ramos-Vinolas, will meet Nick Kyrgios, who shook off losing the first set to reach his first W&S quarterfinal with a 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3 win over Ivo Karlovic.

Muguruza needed 2 hours, 45 minutes - the longest of her three tournament matches - to clinch the win. It came less than 24 hours after she spent 2 hours, 18 minutes on the court and fought off three match points to overcome Madison Keys in the round of 16.

Kutznetsova, a two-time Grand Slam champion and the draw’s oldest woman at 32, spent eight more minutes on the court in this match than she did in her previous two combined matches.

Muguruza now has reached the semifinals of two of the three tournaments she’s entered since winning Wimbledon and reached the quarterfinals.

“You know, I’m happy with the way I’m playing and the way I’m going through these tough matches, because, you know, I’ve got to dig in and somehow win them,” she said. “For sure, even if I didn’t win a tournament, I’m very happy that I’m getting deep into the tournament.”

Top-ranked and defendingchampion Karolina Pliskova topped qualifier Camila Giorgi 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 in the completion of a round-of-16 match postponed by rain from Thursday. Pliskova was scheduled to meet Caroline Wozniacki in a quarterfinal match later on Friday.

Wild-card Sloane Stephens also prevailed in a postponed march, defeating Ekaterina Makarova 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to set up a quarterfinal meeting with Julia Goerges, who upset fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina, 7-5, 6-4.