CLEVELAND (AP) — Sixth-seeded Magda Linette of Poland beat top-seeded Daria Kasatkina of Russia 6-1, 6-2 on Thursday to advance to the Tennis in the Land semifinals.
No. 51 Linette used precision shot-making and converted 5 of 6 break points in the quarterfinal at Jacobs Pavilion, avenging a loss to No. 27 Kasatkina three weeks ago in San Jose, California.
“I’m glad I was able to take a step back and take a look at me after that match,” Linette said. “After I lost the last time we played, I was ready to be on the other side today.”
Linette decisively outplayed Kasatkina and outscored her 57-32, completing the upset with a cross-court winner from the left baseline. She will face Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania in the semis of the inaugural WTA 250 tournament.
No. 74 Begu beat No. 99 Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-2, 6-4, holding her serve all nine times on her 31st birthday. Begu qualified for her first WTA hardcourt semifinal since 2018 in Shenzhen, China.
“I was really aggressive, serving well and moving well,” Begu said. “Hopefully, I can do it at least one more time here.”
Second-seeded Anett Kontaveit outlasted Olympic doubles champion Katerina Siniakova 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 in the second-longest match of the tournament at 2 hours, 39 minutes.
No. 53 Siniakova trailed 4-3 in the second set before breaking No. 30 Kontaveit twice to force a third. Kontaveit won her second three-setter in Cleveland to move into the semifinals against seventh-seeded Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain.
No. 43 Sorribes Tormo was a 6-3, 6-1 winner over ninth-seed Shuai Zhang of China, who is ranked No. 49. Linette, Begu and Sorribes Tormo have not lost a set in their first three matches.
“It’s been amazing,” Sorribes Tormo said. “I thought I played a very complete match because she played pretty good. I’m having a lot of fun.”
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