Second-seeded Kiki Bertens advanced to the quarter-finals of the rain-hit Korea Open by beating Dalila Jakupovic 6-4, 7-5 on Thursday, while Mandy Minella beat Australian qualifier Priscilla Hon 6-4, 6-3.
Bertens broke the Slovenian player’s serve at 5-5 in the second set and held in the next game.
Persistent rain throughout the afternoon delayed the start of four second-round matches.
Photo: EPA
A match between two former champions, Agnieszka Radwanska and Irina-Camelia Begu, was suspended late on Thursday with Begu leading 6-4, 4-3. When play resumed, Begu completed a 6-4, 6-3 win.
Rain postponed a match between top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko and Ekaterina Alexandrova. It was rescheduled to yesterday, when Alexandrova completed the quarter-finals lineup with a straight-set upset 6-3, 6-2.
The quarter-finals were to be played following that match, with Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei to play Alexandrova.
In Tokyo, Japan’s Naomi Osaka yesterday exuded a major champion’s aura as she dispatched Barbora Strycova 6-3, 6-4 to reach the Pan Pacific Open semi-finals, despite being nowhere near her best.
The third seed, who stunned Serena Williams to capture the US Open title earlier this month, failed to hit the same heights she did in New York, but she still had too much firepower for Strycova, advancing to face either Italy’s Camila Giorgi or former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka in the final four.
Eighth seed Strycova had little answer to her opponent’s hitting.
The 20-year-old Osaka, contesting her first tournament since becoming Japan’s first Grand Slam singles winner, extended her winning streak to nine matches.
“I’ve played her three times and each time it’s been very hard,” said Osaka, who reached the Tokyo final in 2016.
In China, Andrea Petkovic defeated Vera Lapko 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) in the quarter-finals of the Guangzhou Open.
Others to advance to the semis were Wang Qiang of China, Bernarda Pera of the US and Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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