Denisa Allertova stunned world No 2 Simona Halep 6-4 6-3 in the quarter-finals of the Guangzhou International Women’s Open on Thursday.
The win against the Romanian top seed gave the 22-year-old Czech, ranked 74th in the world, her second victory against a top-10 player after she defeated Carla Suarez Navarro in the first round of this year’s US Open.
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 out the match 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.
“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 Suarez 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.”
Allertova will play Sara Errani in the last four after the Italian thrashed China’s last remaining hope Saisai Zheng 6-1, 6-0 in 73 minutes, breaking her opponent six times.
Jelena Jankovic beat Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 7-5 and will next face Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer, a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Romanian sixth seed Monica Niculescu.
Defending champion Ana Ivanovic of Serbia came from a break down in both sets to defeat Camila Giorgi of Italy 7-5, 6-2 and reach the quarter-finals of the Pan-Pacific Open.
Ivanovic, who received a bye to the second round in Tokyo, was broken in the first game of the match but broke right back and took Giorgi’s serve again to close out the first set.
Second-seeded Ivanovic then bounced back from 2-0 down in the second, winning the next six games to set up a quarter-final against Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.
Cibulkova, who defeated Ivanovic in the first round of the US Open this year, beat sixth-seeded Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-4, 6-4 yesterday.
However, she then withdrew from a doubles match with an acute gastrointestinal illness and an official WTA injury report rated her chances of being ready for the singles quarter-final as “questionable”.
Ivanovic, appearing in Tokyo for the 10th time, said she hopes her opponent will be fit.
“Definitely I would prefer a match, especially having a tough match against her in the US Open,” Ivanovic said. “I really feel like I’m ready for revenge.”
Cibulkova improved her record to 3-0 against Suarez Navarro, who had not won a match in seven tournaments before beating Kateryna Bondarenko here in the first round.
Seventh-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska reached the final eight by beating Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-4, 6-1. She will play Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, who eliminated the last remaining Japanese player by beating Kurumi Nara 6-2, 6-4.
The 11th-ranked Pliskova served 10 aces and rallied from 4-1 down in the second set to clinch the match.
Top seed Irina-Camelia Begu booked a quarter-final clash with Sweden’s Johanna Larsson at the Korea Open with victory over Polona Hercog.
Romanian Begu took two of four break points to win the opening set before losing the tie-break in the next, but another two breaks of serve saw her close out a 6-2, 6-7, 6-2 win.
Third seed Sloane Stephens had a straightforward 6-3, 6-4 triumph over veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm and will play fifth seed Mona Barthel in the last eight at the tournament in Seoul.
Elizaveta Kulichkova made short work of fourth seed Varvara Lepchenko with a 6-0 6-2 win, while qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich beat Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3 6-3.
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