American Meghann Shaughnessy reached her first semi-finals of the year by beating Hungarian qualifier Agnes Szavay 7-6 (3), 6-4 at the Barcelona KIA Open on Thursday.
Sixth-seeded Shaughnessy was joined by No. 7 Virginie Razzano of France and No. 8 Flavia Pennetta of Italy, who ousted No. 3 Emilie Loit of France 6-3, 6-3.
No. 4 seed 21-year-old Kaia Kanepi of Estonia also lost, upset by unseeded Edina Gallovits of Romania 6-4, 7-5.
After losing in the first round of nine of her opening 10 tournaments, Shaughnessy was starting to enjoy a little more success with an 8-4 record on European clay.
It was the 28-year-old Arizona-born American's first meeting with 18-year-old Szavay, who celebrated her debut in the top 100 rankings this week by knocking out top seeded Francesca Schiavone.
In yesterday's semi-finals, Shaughnessy, ranked just inside the world's top 50, was due to play Pennetta.
The 25-year-old Italian is finally showing the form she displayed on clay earlier in Latin America, where she reached a final and semi-finals.
Razzano advanced to the last four of the final claycourt tournament of the season after beating Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 6-1, 6-4.
She'll face Gallovits, who knocked out her second successive seed in the best week of her eight-year WTA Tour career.
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