Barty, Svitolina, Halep, Sabalenka reach Stuttgart semifinals

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Four players are left standing at the 2021 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and all are members of the Top 10: Ashleigh Barty, Elina Svitolina, Simona Halep and Aryna Sabalenka.

Ashleigh Barty of Australia
Ashleigh Barty of Australia

Making her Stuttgart debut and playing on red clay for the first time since winning the 2019 French Open, top seed Ashleigh Barty won the last four games to beat sixth seed Karolina Pliskova 2-6 6-1 7-5 in the quarterfinals.

Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic
Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic

Pliskova served for the match at 5-4 in the third set. The Czech didn’t have match points, but there were many deuces, as Barty was two points from defeat five times.

Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine
Elina Svitolina of the Ukraine

Barty’s semifinal opponent will be fourth seed Elina Svitolina, who advanced after saving two match points from 2-5 down in the second set to take out defending champion and seventh seed Petra Kvitova 6-7(4) 7-5 6-2.

Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic
Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic

Having fallen to Ekaterina Alexandrova in their previous two matches, second seed Simona Halep was absolutely superior in all aspects of the game in their today’s match to record a 6-1 6-4 victory.

Simona Halep of Romania
Simona Halep of Romania

Aryna Sabalenka is the lowest ranked player left among the last four.

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus

The fifth-seeded Sabalenka saved 15 of 18 break points to overcome Anett Kontaveit 7-5 4-6 6-1. The Belarusian hit seven aces, but outweighed them with eight double faults.

Anett Kontaveit of Estonia
Anett Kontaveit of Estonia

Keep checking back to Women’s Tennis Blog for more exclusive photos from the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

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