Third-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland dispatched Belgium qualifier Kirsten Flipkens 7-6 (8), 6-1 in 94 minutes on Friday to advance to the semifinals of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.
Bencic will next face France's Kristina Mladenovic, who stunned second-seeded Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands 6-4, 2-6, 6-1. If Bencic beats Mladenovic, she will pass Serena Williams (NYSE:WMB) and Bertens to claim one of the eight spots at the upcoming Shiseido WTA Finals Shenzhen.
Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic and Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will meet in the other semifinal. Muchova upset eighth-seeded Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3, 6-4 while Pavlyuchenkova outlasted countrywoman Veronika Kudermetova 7-6 (5), 7-5.
Luxembourg Open
Second-seeded Julia Goerges of Germany fought past Puerto Rico's Monica Puig for a 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 triumph to reach the semifinals in Luxembourg.
Goerges, the defending champion, had 24 winners while rallying to the victory. She next faces third-seeded Russian Elena Rybakina, who soared to a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Germany's Laura Siegemund.
Eighth-seeded Russian Anna Blinkova and Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko will meet in the other semifinals. Blinkova led 6-3, 1-0 when Russia's Margarita Gasparyan retired due to an undisclosed injury, while Ostapenko cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 win over Germany's Antonia Lottner.
--Field Level Media