Sixth-seeded Naomi Osaka of Japan had seven aces and needed just 60 minutes to complete a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova on Thursday to reach the semifinals of the Bad Homburg Open in Germany.
Osaka converted 16 of 17 first-serve points (94.1%) and converted 5 of 7 break points during the easy victory. She will now face China’s Wang Xinyu, who moved on via walkover as No. 3 Elina Svitolina withdrew Wednesday with a right hip injury.
Romanian qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse won the final five games of the match while posting a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Emma Navarro. Ruse is now 1-3 against Navarro, who upset top-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland on Wednesday.
Ruse will oppose No. 4 Czech Karolina Muchova, who rallied for a 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Denmark’s Clara Tauson. Muchova had 35 of her 37 winners over the final two sets.
Lexus Eastbourne Open
Second-seeded Madison Keys converted 27 of 30 first-serve points (90%) while sailing to a 6-3, 6-1 victory over No. 7 McCartney Kessler in an all-American affair in quarterfinal play in England.
Keys won seven straight games and eight of the last nine while finishing Kessler off in 72 minutes. Keys next faces Croatia’s Petra Marcinko, who knocked off Caty McNally 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Third-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia had a 9-2 edge in aces during a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez. Ostapenko overcame five double faults while Sonmez converted just 20 of 43 first-serve points (46.5%).
Ostapenko will meet Germany’s Tatjana Maria in the semifinals. Maria notched a 6-3, 7-5 win over Czech Tereza Valentova.
–Field Level Media
