British No 1 Katie Boulter has impressed in Tokyo, making it to the Last 4, while the defending champion was beaten in Guangzhou.
It’s the end of the year, and I’ve got nothing to lose. I’m swinging out here, having a smile on my face, and I’m just proud of myself and my team for continuing to push me all the way through until the end of the season. That’s something I haven’t been able to do before, because of my body, so I’m very proud, and I’m very happy to be here in the semi-finals. Katie Boulter
Tokyo | WTA 500 Toray Pan Pacific Open
British No 1 Katie Boulter dropped just 3 games against Bianca Andreescu to reach the semi-finals in Tokyo on Friday. She will meet Sofia Kenin, who upset Daria Kasatkina in her quarter-final, while top seed Zheng Qinwen went the distance before defeating Leylah Fernandez to set up a Last 4 meeting with Diana Shnaider.
Boulter, the 9th seed, needed only 62 minutes to breeze past the Canadian wild-card, winning 6-2 6-1, and reaching her 3rd semi-final of the year.
The 28-year-old dominated Andreescu, the 2019 US Open champion, in the first of the quarter-finals, booking a semi-final meeting with former Australia Open champion Sofia Kenin.
Boulter broke Andreescu in the opening service game, survived a break point to hold in the next, and then rattled through the first set as she immediately took control of the contest.
She then took the next 4 games of the second set before Andreescu produced her first ace to hold a tight service game in the 5th, only for Boulter to close out a convincing win. She broke Andreescu’s serve 5 times in the contest.
“I felt like I played really well today,” Boulter, the World No 33, said later. “I came out here with nothing to lose, honestly. I had a quick turn-around yesterday and just wanted to come out and enjoy it. I felt like I came out and everything was kind of clicking. Apart from the first service game, everything was really good, and I felt like I played a really good match.”
Boulter has yet to drop a set in Tokyo, having beaten Australian qualifier Priscilla Hon in straight sets in her opener before thrashing Japanese lucky loser Kyoka Okamura to reach the quarters.
She won two titles in 2024, claiming her maiden WTA 500 victory at the San Diego Open in March before winning the Nottingham Open on grass ahead of Wimbledon, but has failed to progress beyond the 2nd round in her last two events.
“The last couple of months I felt like I was very close, but I just wasn’t quite there,” Boulter added. “Credit to me and my team, we keep pushing, and we’ve worked really hard through the Asian swing. It’s starting to pay off. I feel like it suits me out here.
“It’s the end of the year, and I’ve got nothing to lose. I’m swinging out here, having a smile on my face, and I’m just proud of myself and my team for continuing to push me all the way through until the end of the season.
“That’s something I haven’t been able to do before, because of my body, so I’m very proud, and I’m very happy to be here in the semi-finals.”
Sofia Kenin upset the No 3 seed Daria Kasatkina to set up a semi-final encounter with Katie Boulter on Saturday in Tokyo
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Boulter will face another Grand Slam singles champion, 2020 Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin, in the Last 4 on Saturday, after the wild-carded American impressively took down 5th-seeded Daria Kasatkina from Russia, 6-3 6-4, in 78 minutes.
Later, No 1 seed and Paris Olympic Gold medalist Zheng Qinwen beat 8th-seeded Leylah Fernandez from Canada, 6-0 1-6 6-3, after an hour and 47 minutes.
The Chinese No 1 levelled her head-to-head with Fernandez, winning the first 7 games and extending her game streak against the Canadian to 15. Zheng will play Diana Shnaider, the 6th seed from Russia, in the semi-finals, as she advanced by way of a walkover when Sayaka Ishii, a Japanese qualifier, was unable to take the court due to an undisclosed illness or injury.
In 2022, a 19-year-old Zheng reached the first WTA final of her career in Tokyo, beaten by another Russian, Liudmila Samsonova, in the title match.
Top seed Katerina Siniakova stayed on track with a win over Bernarda Pera in the quarter-finals at the Guangzhou Open in China
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Guangzhou | WTA 250 Guangzhou Open presented by AVAIR
Top seed Katerina Siniakova defeated Bernarda Pera for the 6th time in 7 meetings in Guangzhou on Friday.
The Czech improved her record against the American to 6-1 overall, with a 6-4 7-5 win, and advanced to her 2nd tour-level semi-final of 2024 after an hour and 24 minutes.
There, Siniakova will face Olga Danilovic from Serbia, who came from 2-4 down in the second set to defeat qualifier Mananchaya Sawangkaew from Thailand, 6-4 6-4, in her quarter-final.
Danilovic advanced to her 2nd tour-level semi-final of 2024 and the first of her career on hard courts after an hour and 44 minutes.
Italian Lucia Bronzetti improved to 2-0 against China’s Wang Xiyu, dethroning the defending Guangzhou champion with a 6-4 6-1 win to reach her 2nd tour-level semi-final of 2024 after an hour and 38 minutes.
American qualifier Caroline Dolehide recovered after letting a 3-0 second-set lead slip to upset the 7th seed, Jessica Bouzas Maneiro from Spain, 6-4 4-6 6-0, in an hour and 50 minutes to also make her 2nd WTA semi-final of 2024.
Lucia Bronzetti ended Wang Xiyu’s hopes of defending her Guangzhou Open title in the quarter-finals of the WTA 250 event in China on Friday
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