The sole remaining Frenchwoman advanced to the semifinals at the Engie Open de Limoges after dropping the first set to Donna Vekic of Croatia. She then rallied to easily win the match: 3-6, 6-1, 6-1. Joining her in the semifinals are Francesca Schiavone, Louisa Chirico, and Katerina Siniakova. Garcia is the only seeded player remaining in the tournament as Anna-Lena Friedsam and Margarita Gasparyan lost today.
Garcia, the third seed and a wild card recipient, won only 49% of her service points in the opening set compared to 63% for the Vekic. The nineteen year old from Croatia broke Garcia’s serve three times in the set, and was broken only once. Although the Croat is ranked 70 spots lower than Garcia, she had upset Garcia in the first round of the French Open this year. In this encounter, however, Garcia rebounded in the second and third sets, winning 86% and 94% of her service points, respectively. She did not face any breakpoints in those sets. Vekic, on the other hand, won only 38% of her service points in the second set and a scant 29% in the third.
The 2010 French Open champion, Schiavone, won the first set of her match against the sixth seed Gasparyan of Russia in a tiebreak. The veteran Italian advanced to the semifinals as the young Russian retired after dropping the first set.
The eighth seed Friedsam was ousted by nineteen-year-old Siniakova of the Czech Republic in three sets: 7-5, 2-6, 6-3. Another nineteen year old also will play in the semifinals, the American Chirico beat qualifier Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine in straight sets: 7-5, 6-2.
Garcia faces Siniakova in the semifinals and Schiavone plays Chirico in first time meetings.
