BEIJING (AP) — French Open champion Mirra Andreeva reached the semifinals of the China Open after battling past Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) on Thursday.
Andreeva had lost her previous two matches against Alexandrova, who rallied back from 4-1 down in the second set and 5-3 down with Andreeva serving for the match.
“I felt like she was playing better and I didn’t take my chances. I could have played more aggressive but what a match this was,” Andreeva said. “She played unbelievable today, and I’m very happy to get my very first win against her.”
The fourth-seeded Andreeva is aiming for a fourth singles title this year and next faces Nikola Bartunkova. She earlier reached her first WTA 1000 semifinal after beating fellow Czech Karolina Muchova 6-3, 6-0.
Bartunkova stamped her authority on the quarterfinal by racing to 5-0 against her seventh-seeded opponent. It was the 20-year-old Bartunkova’s third career win against a top 10-ranked opponent.
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