Mayar Sherif continued her recent strong play by saving 11 of 18 break points (61.1%) and posting a 7-6 (4), 6-7 (2), 6-4 victory over Spain’s Paula Badosa on Friday to reach the semifinals of the MSC Hamburg Ladies Open in Germany.
Sherif defeated Badosa on Monday in the title match of the Iasi Open in Romania when the Spaniard retired due to a leg injury. This time, they battled for three hours and 26 minutes before the Egyptian put away Badosa, who committed 12 double faults.
Sherif next faces fifth-seeded German Tamara Korpatsch, who registered a 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 win over second-seeded Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine. Korpatsch won 10 of 12 second-return points (83.3%).
No. 4 Anna Bondar of Hungary knocked off Alina Charaeva of Armenia 6-1, 7-6 (3). Bondar will next face another Armenian in Elina Avanesyan, who won in a walkover when top-seeded Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine withdrew due to an abdominal injury.
Prague Open
Fifth-seeded Tereza Valentova recovered from a slow start and finished strong to knock off top-seeded Marie Bouzkova 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6) in an all-Czech matchup to advance to the semifinals.
Valentova won the 12th game of the third set to force a tiebreaker and then won the last two points to advance. Bouzkova hit four aces but committed six double faults in the two-hour, 44-minute match.
Valentova next faces No. 8 Daria Snigur, who rolled to a 6-0, 6-3 win over Thailand’s Lanlana Tararudee. The Ukrainian won 24 of 31 first-serve points (77.4%).
No. 2 Barbora Krejcikova defeated fellow Czech Dominika Salkova 6-3, 6-3 in just 79 minutes. She will face Austria’s Lilli Tagger, who recorded a 6-3, 6-4 triumph over No. 3 Czech Sara Bejlek.
–Field Level Media
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