Coco Crushes Halep As 3 Of Top 4 Seeds Fall In Stuttgart Quarters

It was a tough day for the top seeds in the Stuttgart quarterfinals. American slugger CoCo Vandeweghe led the way hammering World No. 1 Simona Halep 6-4, 6-1.

“It’s always something special when you beat a World No.1, no matter what stage it is, what venue,” said Vandeweghe who has won her last three over No. 1s. “To get a victory over a World No.1 it’s a certain pedigree and you definitely hope that you come out at the end with a win. Today I was fortunate enough to be able to do that.”

“I’m very pleased with the result today and again, it’s a broken record, but I did everything I could control out there,” she added. “In doing that, I found it easier to be able to play.”

In the semifinals tomorrow, the American will face .6 seed Caroline Garcia who edged No. 3 seed Elina Svitolina 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-2.

“I haven’t played [her] in a while,” said Vandeweghe. “So, I don’t have any thoughts about it. You know, it’s another match, another day, turn to play tennis, all the normal stuff.”

Former No. 1 Karolina Pliskova outlasted French Open champ and No. 4 seed Jelena Ostapenko 5-7, 7-5, 6-4.

“She started very well so in the first set, I was just trying to hang in there and be a good opponent for her,” said Pliskova who was paced by 14 aces. “I’m just lucky that I won in the end in three sets, but I’m happy I was able to hold my serve and not play a tiebreak.”

Pliskova figures to be the favorite against Anett Kontavait who eased past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in nearly three hours 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-4.