Allertova stuns Halep in Guangzhou
Czech Denisa Allertova stunned world No 2 Simona Halep 6-4 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the Guangzhou International Women’s Open on Thursday.
The win against the Romanian top seed gave the 22-year-old, ranked 74 in the world, only her second victory against a top 10 player after she defeated Carla Suarez Navarro in the first round of the US Open recently.
After going up 5-4 in the first set, Allertova won six of the next seven games for a 5-1 lead in the second and then closed the match out with a backhand winner.
“I have amazing feelings because I won against Simona Halep - she’s a great player, ranked No 2. I can breathe now!” Allertova told the WTA website after the match.
“I don’t know, I was just trying to focus every point, not looking who’s on the other side, just focusing on myself and playing my tennis. I was fighting every point and it worked. I’m so happy.
“It was my first time playing such a top player like this, but at the US Open I played against Suárez Navarro, also an amazing player, a top 10 player, and I beat her, but it’s the first time in my life to have a win like this.”
Unseeded Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium earlier defeated another Romanian in sixth seed Monica Niculescu 6-2 6-2 while thirdseeded Sara Errani powered past local hope Zheng Saisai 6-1 6-0 for a semifinal meeting with Allertova.
No 4 seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia also reached the last four by defeating fifthseeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 7-5.