Top seed falls in Transylvania
NUMBER eight seed Ana Bogdan of Romania ousted top-seeded Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 3-6, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) in a three-hour, 28-minute marathon in the quarterfinals of the Transylvania Open yesterday in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Bogdan won a tightly contested second-set tiebreaker on her second set point, then rallied from down 5-4 in both the third set and the ensuing tiebreaker to finish the upset. Bogdan had eight aces without a double fault while saving 12 of 18 break points; Rus had four aces but committed eight double faults.
Bogdan will face countrywoman Jaqueline Cristian in the semi-finals, ensuring one player from Romania will reach the final on her home soil. Cristian defeated Latvia’s Anastasija Sevastova 6-3, 7-5.
The other semi-final will pit Great Britain’s Harriet Dart against Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic.
Dart beat Spain’s Nuria Parrizas Diaz 6-3, 6-2, and Pliskova skated by Italian Sara Errani 6-2, 6-0.
Number six seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil felled second-seeded Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 6-3, 6-4 in quarterfinal action in the United Arab Emirates.
Despite Jabeur holding a 4-0 edge in aces, Haddad Maia prevailed by converting three of five break-point chances while saving four of the five break points she faced.
Number 1 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan was more fortunate, as she cruised past Spaniard Cristina Bucsa 6-1, 6-4 in just 64 minutes. Rybakina’s semi-final opponent will be Russian eighth seed Liudmila Samsonova, who was a 7-5, 6-4 winner over Czech fourth seed Barbora Krejcikova.
Haddad Maia will face Russian seventh seed Daria Kasatkina, who soundly defeated Romania’s Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-0.