Twenty-one year-old Hungarian Timea Babos, World Number 86, upset Flavia Pennetta in three sets with 6-2 5-7 7-5 setting up a semifinal against Kristina Mladenovic who beat Spain’s Arrabaruena 6-4 6-1.
Babos broke serve to love in the fifth game of the first set to take a 3-2 lead before getting a second break for 6-2. Pennetta bounced back opening up a 3-0 lead in the second set. Babos broke back twice to draw level to 5-5. Pennetta won the 11th game for 6-5 and earned two set points. Babos saved the first set point but Pennetta converted the second opportunity for 7-5.
Babos took a 3-1 lead but dropped her serve allowing Pennetta to draw level to 3-3. Pennetta faced a break back point but she saved it to take a 4-3 lead. Pennetta faced more break points in the ninth game. Babos broke to lead 5-4 but allowed Pennetta to claw her way back into the match for 5-5. Babos broke in the 11th game before closing out the match on the second match point for 7-5 after two hours.
Babos will face Mladenovic who followed up her win over Garbine Muguruza with a 6-4 6-1 win over Spain’s Arrabuarrena.
Elina Svitolina beat Italian Karin Knapp 6-0 3-6 6-3. After losing the first set with a bagel, Knapp served for the second set with 5-1 but she missed a set point before dropping her serve allowing Svitolina to claw her way back to 3-5. Kanpp closed out the second set in the next game to force the decider. Knapp missed 5 opportunities to go up 3-1 before dropping her serve in the third set. Svitolina got the decisive break in the 8th game and served for the match in the next game for 6-3.
Svitolina will take on World Number 46 Anna Karolina Schmiedlova who knocked out Timea Bacsinsky with 6-3 3-6 7-5. Bacsinszky bounced back from losing the first set with a win in the second set with a 6-3 win in the second set before getting a break in the third set for 2-1. Schmiedlova broke back to draw level to 4-4 and broke again for 6-5 before sealing the win in the next game.
Prague: Banka Prague Open: Pliskova reaches semifinals
Karolina Pliskova edged past Denisa Allertova 6-2 5-7 6-1 after a up and down match to reach the semifinals at the J&T Banka Prague Open.
Pliskova, one of the most consistent players on the WTA circuit this year, capitalized on a series of early errors from Alertova to get a break in the first game of the match en route to clinching the first set in just 23 minutes with an ace.
Pliskova brought up a break point opportunity with a backhand passing shot in the first game of the second set but Allertova saved it. Allertova failed to serve out the second set at 5-3 but she managed to force the decider.
Pliskova broke serve in the first game of the third set to love before getting two more breaks to win the third set with 6-1.
Pliskova will face Yanina Wickmayer from Belgium who came back from a set down to edge past Danka Kovinic with 2-6 6-3 6-3
Katernia Siniakova set up Barbora Strykova 6-4 6-2 setting up an all-Czech semifinal against Czech player Lucie Hradecka who edged past Klara Koukalova 7-5 4-6 7-5.
