STUTTGART: World number one and defending champion Iga Swiatek took her Stuttgart winning streak to 10 matches on Friday with a straight sets quarter-final victory over Emma Raducanu while title rivals Aryna Sabalenka and Coco Gauff suffered shock defeats.
Top seed Swiatek, the 2022 and 2023 champion at the German clay-court tournament, saw off former US Open champion Raducanu 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 and will face fourth seed Elena Rybakina for a place in Sunday’s final.
Rybakina reached the semi-finals after overcoming the challenge of in-form Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
World number two Sabalenka’s hopes of reaching a fourth consecutive Stuttgart Open final ended after a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 quarter-final defeat by reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova.
The sixth-seeded Czech celebrated her first win over Sabalenka in six years after losing four in a row between 2018 and 2023.
Vondrousova will face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk for a place in the final after the 27th-ranked Ukrainian avenged her Australian Open quarter-final loss to Gauff, the world number three, with a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8/6) win.
Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2024
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