Gauff Knocked Out By Kudermetova, Sakkari Survives Garcia Thriller; Swiatek Leads Doha SFs
In Doha, quarterfinal was the card on Friday. No. 2 seed Jessica Pegula eliminated 26-year-old Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil 6-3, 6-2.
Pegula, ranked No. 4, Pegula broke serve four times in the match while was broken just once. She lost just two points on first serve in the second set.
Pegula advances to her 12th career semifinal where she’ll collide with the fifth-seeded Maria Sakkari.
The 27-year-old Greek survived a thriller against world No. 5 Caroline Garcia 6-2, 6-7(5-7), 7-6(7-5).
The 7th-ranked Sakkari connected on six aces and never lost serve in the match saving all three break chances against her in that first set. There were no breaks of serve in the last two sets.
“The conditions were very tough for both of us,” Sakkari said to the WTA. “I think we did a really good job in the second set of holding our serves and not giving the opponent a chance to break. You don’t see that often in women’s tennis. It was pretty impressive.
“That third-set tiebreak was something special. I was brave, when in the second-set tiebreak I wasn’t, and I’m just very happy.”
The 2-hour, 41-minute win was Sakkari’s first in four tries at tour-level against Garcia.
Sakkari makes her 24th career semifinal.
Veronika Kudermetova ousted the 4th-seeded teen Coco Gauff in a match that went the distance 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
Top seed and tournament defending champion Iga Swiatek already advanced to the semifinals after Belinda Bencic withdrew.
Looking at tomorrow’s semifinals, No. 2 Jessica Pegula takes on No. 5 Maria Sakkari. Sakkari has the better of Pegula 4-2 in their tour-level meetings. No. 8 Veronika Kudermetova meets No. 1 Iga Swiatek with Swiatek winning both tour-level clashes.
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