Italy’s Marco Cecchinato was on Thursday the only seeded male player left at the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne, England, after Kyle Edmund and Denis Shapovalov were eliminated in the quarter-finals.
Second seed Edmund lost 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 to Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.
Edmund fought back from a break down to take the opening set, but was broken by the world No. 90 in the third game of the second set and again in the ninth, following a double fault.
Photo: AP / Press Association
Kukushkin clearly had the momentum and won the first three games of the decider.
Edmund’s frustration was clear and the British No. 1 had a prolonged argument with umpire Arnaud Gabas over a line call.
Kukushkin was next to face Mischa Zverev in the semi-finals after the German’s surprise 6-3, 6-3 victory over third-seeded Shapovalov of Canada.
Cecchinato, who is seeded fourth, was to take on Lukas Lacko in the other semi-final after beating John Millman of Australia 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.
Lacko, who on Wednesday knocked out top seed Diego Schwartzman in the second round, comfortably dispatched British No. 2 Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4.
There were also surprises in the women’s singles, as defending champion Karolina Pliskova was upset by Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
The second-seeded Czech player, who had reached the final the past two years, lost 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (7/5) in 2 hours, 12 minutes.
It was Sabalenka’s first victory over a top 10-ranked player.
Sabalenka, who is ranked 45th in the world, fought back from a 4-1 deficit in the deciding set and clinched the match when Pliskova sent a forehand wide.
Sabalenka was to face 2008 champion Agnieszka Radwanska in the semi-finals after the Pole eased past fifth seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 7-5.
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki survived a scare to beat Ashleigh Barty of Australia 6-4, 6-3.
Eighth-seeded Barty broke twice in the second set, but Wozniacki broke straight back each time and the Danish player won four successive games to book her semi-final spot, sealing the result when Barty returned into the net.
Wozniacki was to play fourth seed Angelique Kerber, who prevailed over Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/3).
Kerber seemed on her way to a comfortable win as the German powered through the first set in just 19 minutes, but seventh-seeded Kasatkina recovered from her terrible start and pushed Kerber all the way.
Both players appeared to struggle on their serve — with Kasatkina in particular racking up 10 double faults.
There were several breaks of serve before Kerber triumphed in a little more than two hours.
In the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles, Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Sabalenka advanced when second seeds Andreja Klepac of Slovenia and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain retired after going 3-0 down in the first set.
Hsieh and Sabalenka were to face fourth seeds Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and Xu Yifan of China in the semi-finals.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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