World No.1 Iga Swiatek extended her impressive winning streak to 21 matches with a 6-4 6-4 victory over fellow Grand Slam champion Emma Raducanu in the quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.
Debuting the Asics Paris collection, Swiatek broke Raducanu’s serve in the opening game and dropped just three points on serve in the first set. Playing her first ever WTA tournament on clay, Raducanu was broken in the first game of the second set and even though the Briton broke back right away, the Pole broke her serve once again in the next game and held on to that advantage even though she was tested by her opponent.
Swiatek has now won her last 13 matches in straight sets. The last set she lost came against Angelique Kerber in the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open.
Swiatek’s semifinal opponent will be Liudmila Samsonova, who moved past 2017 Stuttgart champion Laura Siegemund 7-5 6-3 earlier on Friday.
Second seed Paula Badosa edged seventh seed Ons Jabeur 7-6(9) 1-6 6-3 in the quarterfinals and secured a new career-high ranking of No.2. The Spaniard overcame a 5-3 deficit to edge the tense first set in a tiebreak after both players had set points. After winning just six points in the first five games of the second set and then losing the set, Badosa brought her aggressive play and dominance, especially from 2-2 in the decider.
Badosa’s semifinal opponent will be third seed Aryna Sabalenka, who ended fifth seed Anett Kontaveit’s 22-match unbeaten streak indoors, which included titles at Ostrava, Moscow, Cluj-Napoca and St. Petersburg. Sabalenka prevailed 6-4 3-6 6-1 and stopped Kontaveit at the same stage of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix as last year.
