No. 5 seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia saved two match points in the tiebreaker to defeat Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (6) on Friday to reach the semifinal of the Ningbo Open in China.
Kasatkina lost the numbers game to Putinteseva, of Kazakhstan, winning nine fewer points, serving up eight double faults, committing more unforced errors and ringing up fewer winners. But she came through in the clutch, coming back from down 4-2 in the third set and 6-4 in the tiebreaker of the two-hour, 41-minute match.
The Russian moved to her sixth semifinal of the year, where No. 8 seed Paula Badosa of Spain awaits. Badosa was a 6-3, 6-2 winner over No. 6 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil.
The other semifinal pits Russia’s Mirra Andreeva against Czech Karolina Muchova, who rallied for a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 win against No. 7 seed Anna Kalinskaya of Russia. Andreeva advanced when Czech Barbora Krejcikova retired down 7-6 (5), 3-2.
Japan Open
Qualifier Aoi Ito’s remarkable run in her debut WTA Tour event continued with a 6-7 (8), 6-2, 6-3 win over Eva Lys of Germany to reach the semifinals in Osaka.
The 20-year-old Ito, ranked No. 188 in the world, capitalized on six of her 10 break chances and won 64 percent of the points on her first serve.
In the semis, Ito will take on Kimberly Birrell of Australia, who defeated Japan’s Sara Saito 7-5, 6-4 in 99 minutes. Birrell, ranked No. 150, also is seeking her first WTA tournament win. The other semifinal will be a match between Diane Parry of France, the seventh seed, and Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands.
Parry defeated Clara Tauson of Denmark 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in two hours, 17 minutes while Lamens needed six minutes longer to come from behind to top Ana Bogdan of Romania 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
–Field Level Media
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