Svitolina, Sevastova march into semis Davis shuts out Makarova
Dubai, Feb. 23: Seventh seed Elena Svitolina of Ukraine entered the semi-finals of the Dubai Tennis Championships, on Thursday.
Svitolina defeated Lauren Davis of the United States 6-0, 6-4 in one of the early last-eight matches on the day.
Unseeded Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia also booked her last four berth with 6-4, 7-5 defeat of Wang Qiang of China.
Svitolina now awaits the winner of the match between top seeded German Angelique Kerber and Ana Konjuh of Croatia.
Sevastova, on the other hand will play the winner of the quarterfinal between 10th seed Dane Caroline Wozniacki and American Catherine Bellis.
Earlier, on Wednesday, Kerber dominated Monica Puig 6-2, 6-3 in barely an hour to move a step closer to returning to the number one ranking.
The top-seeded German who held the top WTA spot in 2016 before Serena Williams took it back in September, could regain the number one ranking were she to win the Gulf event on Saturday.
In other third round matches, Konjuh eliminated eighth seed Elena Vesnina 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).
Svitolina outlasted Christina McHale 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in a match which went for almost two and a half hours. Elsewhere, Davis beat Ekaterina Makarova 4-6, 61, 6-3, Qiang defeated Kristina Mladenovic 6-1, 64 a day after the Frenchwoman had stunned second seed Karolina Pliskova while Sevastova defeated Peng Shuai 6-4, 6-3.
American Bellis sprang a shock on 2012 champion Agnieszka Radwanska upsetting the Polish fourth seed 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 with the 17year-old earning her first win over a top 10 player.
Wozniacki needed treatment on a leg at the start of the third set, but carried on to defeat Kateryna Bondarenko 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 after more than two hours of battle.
Raonic, Edmund in quarters
Miami: Canadian top seed Milos Raonic advanced to the quarter-finals of the ATP Delray Beach Open on Wednesday by defeating Croatia’s Borna Coric 6-3, 7-6 (7/2).
Raonic booked a quarterfinal matchup against British eighth seed Kyle Edmund, who outlasted Taiwan’s Lu Yen-Hsun 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.
Also advancing to the last eight was US third seed Jack Sock, who downed Spain’s Guillermo GarciaLopez 6-4, 6-1, and American fifth seed Steve Johnson, who eliminated Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka by the same score.