Paris
Mayar Sherif became the first Egyptian woman to reach the semifinal of a WTA event by defeating eighth-seeded Kristina Kucova of Slovakia 6-3, 6-1 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Sherif needed just an hour and seven minutes to finish off Kucova, winning 26 of 32 first-serve points and converting all four of her break-point opportunities.
Sherif, who opened the tournament by stunning No. 1 seed Alize Cornet of France in straight sets, will face Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu in the semis.
he last Romanian standing in her home country’s event, Buzarnescu topped Czech foe Kristyna Pliskova 7-5, 6-3 on Friday.
Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia cruised past Slovakian Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-3, 6-0, to reach the final four.
She will face either No. 2 seed Andrea Petkovic of Germany or Australia’s Seone Mendez in the next round; their quarterfinal match was suspended due to darkness with Petkovic leading the third set 5-1.—AP
