by British number 1 Katie Boulter easily made it to the semi-finals of the WTA Pan Pacific Open by comfortably defeating Bianca Andreescu in Tokyo.
The 28-year-old recorded his third consecutive victory at the tournament, defeating the 2019 US Open champion 6-2, 6-1 in just over an hour. Boulter, the tournament’s ninth seed, will face Sofia Kenin for a place in the final after the American defeated Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 6-4.
Boulter is currently ranked 33rd in the world following poor results in the WTA Tour’s Asian swing, losing to Coco Gauff at the China Open, qualifier Lesia Tsurenko in Wuhan and then Beatriz Haddad Maia in the round of 16 of the Ningbo Open. However, she dominated Andreescu after catching a break in the first game of the match.
After a battle for serve in the next game, Boulter broke serve again in the fifth game and closed the first set 6-2. At the start of the second set, Andreescu faltered again and dropped her serve, while Boulter scored another double to take a 4-0 lead. The Canadian was beaten for the fifth and final time and remained behind 5-1, with a double fault on match point giving Boulter a comprehensive victory.
“My team and I keep pushing, we’ve worked really hard during the Asian swing and it’s starting to pay off,” Boulter told Sky Sports. “I have nothing to lose, I’m out here with a smile on my face. I’m just proud to continue giving my best until the end of the season, which I haven’t been able to do so far because of my body.”
The tournament’s top seed, Zheng Qinwen, survived a tough battle against Leylah Fernandez to reach the last four. The world number 7 won the first set 6-0, but Fernandez bounced back in style to win the second set 6-1. Zheng regrouped, won the third set 6-3 and secured the semi-final against Diana Shnaider.
Jack Draper reached the semifinals of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna by defeating Tomas Machac 6:3, 3:6, 6:1. The British men’s No. 1, benefiting from a month-long break before the tournament, delivered a dominant performance in the final set to set up a quarter-final clash with Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti, who defeated top seed Alexander Zverev 2-6, 7-7. 6 (5) defeated. , 6-4.
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Draper, ranked 18th in the world after the best year of his career, responded to losing the second set with a two-break break against his Czech opponent in the deciding set. The 22-year-old Brit built a 4-0 lead before securing his victory with an ace in two hours and seven minutes.
Draper returned from a month-long break after retiring through injury in Tokyo against Ugo Humbert and had beaten Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Italy’s Luciano Darderi without losing a set in the previous rounds in Austria.
