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September 30, 2016

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Halep meets Kvitova in Wuhan semifinals

FOURTH-SEEDED Simona Halep of Romania advanced to the semifinals of the Wuhan Open yesterday with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Madison Keys of the United States.

Halep beat the eighth-seeded Keys with powerful groundstrokes to set up a semifinal match against Czech Petra Kvitova, who beat Britain’s Johanna Konta 6-3, 6-4.

“It was a great match for me,” Halep said. “I knew she would be very tough because she’s strong and serves really well. But I was moving well and enjoyed my time on the court.”

With the win in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei Province, Halep — who turned 25 this week — improved to 4-1 against Keys and qualified for her third straight appearance at the WTA Finals in Singapore.

Only world No. 1 Angelique Kerber of Germany and American Serena Williams have so far qualified for the highly lucrative tournament, and the field remains wide open for the remaining five spots.

“It’s amazing to be qualified again for Singapore three years in a row. It’s a good thing. It gives me confidence,” Halep said.

It was Halep’s third victory against Keys this year following wins in the third round of Wimbledon and in the final of the Rogers Cup in Montreal.

Svetlana Kuznetsova came from match point down to defeat third-seeded Pole Agnieszka Radwanska 1-6, 7-6 (9), 6-4.

“I was getting better as the match was going on,” the Russian ninth seed said. “Aga played well in the first set, but I wasn’t moving so well.

“In the second set I wasn’t playing my best game. But I was trying to stay in there, trying to fight, trying to be smart and turn things around.”

In Shenzhen, southern Guangdong Province, top seed and world No. 9 Tomas Berdych battled Mikhail Kukushkin to prevail 7-6 (7), 7-6 (4) and advance at the Shenzhen Open yesterday.

The 31-year-old Czech blasted 16 aces to overpower his Kazakh opponent in two sets and secure his quarterfinal berth.

Fourth seed Bernard Tomic of Australia won a two-hour duel with qualifier Ryan Harrison, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

The 23-year-old right-hander hit only 10 aces to Harrison’s 20, but held off the American’s challenge, saving three break points to book a clash with Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci in the quarterfinals.

It will be their second head-to-head clash in an ATP competition, with Tomic winning their last meeting in 2012.




 

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