Sharapova, Halep in Shenzhen last four
Maria Sharapova continued her preparations for an Australian Open return by beating Zarina Diyas 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the Shenzhen Open semi-finals along with top seed Simona Halep. The five-time major winner dictated play against Diyas, hitting 24 winners and five aces to clinch victory in under 90 minutes on Thursday.
Top-ranked Halep also eased into the semi-finals with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Aryna Sabalenka.
SHENZHEN:
SVITOLINA IN LAST-4
Elina Svitolina entered the Brisbane International semifinals after her opponent Johanna Konta retired with a hip injury during the third set of the quarter-final contest on Thursday. World No 9 Konta claimed the first set 6-1 but lost momentum in the next as Svitolina grew in confidence to level the contest at 1-1 after a tiebreak. The Briton called for an injury timeout to treat her right hip ahead of the decider but was unable to continue.
THIEM WINS
Top seed Dominic Thiem of Austria survived the upset wave by getting past Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene 7-5, 6-4 in the Qatar Open on Thursday while Russia’s Andrey Rublev withstood Spain’s Fernando Verdasco to set up a quarter-final tie against Borna Coric. Thiem made a strong start breaking Bedene to take a 4-1 lead but Bedene fought back to level the set at 4-4.
BRISBANE: DOHA: