Venus Williams beat Roberta Vinci – conqueror of Serena Williams at the US Open – to reach the Wuhan Open final.
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Earlier on Friday, Venus avenged her sister Serena’s US Open loss after defeating Roberta Vinci in a topsy-turvy gruelling semifinal clash.
Wimbledon finalist Muguruza – ranked world number eight, 16 places ahead of American veteran Williams – had a tough semi-final against Germany’s Angelique Kerber, winning in straight sets but falling during the closing tie break and injuring her ankle.
Konta, however, would not go down without a fight, and showed what has become her signature grit to force the match into a decider and twice lead by a break in the final set. The 15th-seeded Italian saved three of four break points and took advantage of 30 unforced errors by the eighth-seeded Pliskova. “She’s had a wonderful summer and beat so many players this tournament”. To her credit, she never gave up and managed to hold serve for 5-5.
The seven-time major victor edged Vinci in three sets that saw the Italian get a match point before eventually losing in a tiebreak.
Hibino’s only previous appearances in a WTA main draw came last month, when she reached the second round at the Japan Women’s Open and Dalian Open. Still (I) found myself down 15-40 due to her play. But it’s the semi-finals.
“Well, this is a sad day today”, said Muguruza, who went first. “I found my game again”, said the hard-hitting Spaniard. It is also worth noting that Williams was limping towards the end of her match, which was later confirmed to be a leg injury.
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Second-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia ended South Korean Hyeon Chung’s run in the tournament with a 7-6 (6), 6-4 victory in their quarterfinal and will next face Guillermo Garcia-Lopez Saturday after the Spaniard got a walkover against injured Adrian Mannarino.
