Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Friday saw her singles run at the Citi Open end after falling to Catherine McNally of the US in the quarter-finals.
World No. 150 McNally outlasted fourth seed Hsieh 6-4, 6-3 in a two-set match in Washington that lasted 1 hour, 23 minutes.
Hsieh reached the quarter-finals late on Thursday by defeating Russian qualifier Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 in a marathon three-setter that took 2 hours, 39 minutes.
Hsieh, who had been the only seed remaining in the women’s draw, was no match for the 17-year-old, who has so far had an impeccable run in the tournament.
McNally set up a semi-final encounter with Italy’s Camila Giorgi, who downed Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-2.
In the day’s other quarter-final, Russian qualifier Anna Kalinskaya ousted France’s Kristina Mladenovic 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 to book a semi-final with American Jessica Pegula.
On the men’s side, Andy Murray moved closer to a singles return six months after right-hip surgery, while Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas rolled into the world’s top five.
Britain’s Murray and his brother Jamie, in their first doubles event since the 2016 Rio Olympics, lost to New Zealand’s Michael Venus and South African Raven Klaasen 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (8/6), 10-7 in a quarter-final.
Murray has practiced singles this week to improve his conditioning after the long layoff.
“I feel fine,” Murray said. “Practice has been fine. No issues physically, so progressing well.”
Murray has not played singles since the Australian Open, but said he might return at the ATP Cincinnati Masters starting on Aug. 12.
Top seed Tsitsipas beat French 10th seed Benoit Paire 7-5, 6-0 to reach the semi-finals and ensure he will overtake Germany’s Alexander Zverev to crack the world rankings top five tomorrow.
“Once you’re in a certain position for a long time, you really crave for more,” Tsitsipas said. “This one position difference might not feel a lot for some people, but for me it really means a lot, because there has been a lot of hard work behind it.”
The 20-year-old booked a semi-final against Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, who ousted Slovakian lucky loser Norbert Gombos 6-3, 6-3.
“I’m excited to play him,” Kyrgios said of Tsitsipas. “He’s one of the best players in the world right now.”
The Tsitsipas victory was marked by his third straight game with a delay to change his left shoe, having said he damages the laces when he slides incorrectly.
“There’s nothing I can do about it,” he said. “The only thing is probably change my footwork, stop doing that.”
Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev advanced to the semi-finals by defeating Croatian sixth seed Marin Cilic 6-4, 7-6 (9/7).
Medvedev, chasing his fifth career ATP title, took the only break at the start and never faced a break point.
Next up for Medvedev is to be 122nd-ranked German lucky loser Peter Gojowczyk, who outlasted British 13th seed Kyle Edmund 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
SILICON VALLEY CLASSIC
Seventh seed Maria Sakkari on Friday saved four match points to upset top seed Elina Svitolina and reach the semi-finals of the Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, California.
Greece’s Sakkari rallied from 1-6, 2-5 down to triumph 1-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 as she remained on course to reach the final for a second straight year.
She is to face Zheng Saisai for a place in the final after the 55th-ranked Chinese player outlasted fourth seed Amanda Anisimova of the US 5-7, 7-5, 6-4.
Sakkari saved three match points in the ninth game of the second set, finally converting her fifth break point in a game that went to deuce seven times.
She saved another match point on the way to holding her own serve for 5-5 and never trailed in the second-set tiebreaker.
“I’m super happy,” Sakkari said. “I was playing very bad tennis. I was not moving, not reacting at all. I really don’t know how I managed to wake up.”
Second seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus booked her spot in the semi-finals with a 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Spanish sixth seed Carla Suarez Navarro.
Sabalenka next faces fifth-seeded Croatian Donna Vekic, who defeated American qualifier Kristie Ahn 7-5, 6-0.
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