by No. 5 seed Russian Daria Kasatkina saved two match points in the tiebreaker to beat Yulia Putintseva 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (6) on Friday and reach the semifinals of the Ningbo Open in China.
Kasatkina lost the numbers game to Putintseva of Kazakhstan, winning nine fewer points, committing eight double faults, committing more unforced errors and producing fewer winners. But she took the lead and came back from a 4-2 deficit in the third set and a 6-4 deficit in the tiebreak of the two-hour, 41-minute match.
The Russian moved into her sixth semi-final of the year, where number 8 seed Paula Badosa from Spain awaits her. Badosa won 6-3, 6-2 over No. 6 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil.
In the other semifinal, Russia’s Mirra Andreeva takes on Czech Karolina Muchova, who earned a 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over No. 7 seed Russian Anna Kalinskaya. Andreeva advanced when Czech Barbora Krejcikova was eliminated 7-6 (5), 3-2.
Qualifier Aoi Ito’s remarkable performance in her first WTA Tour event continued with a 6-7 (8), 6-2, 6-3 victory over Eva Lys of Germany to reach the semi-finals in Osaka.
The 20-year-old Ito, ranked 188th in the world, capitalized on six of her ten break chances and won 64 percent of the points on her first serve.
In the semifinals, Ito will face Kimberly Birrell of Australia, who beat Japan’s Sara Saito 7-5, 6-4 in 99 minutes. Birrell, ranked 150th, is also aiming for her first WTA tournament victory. The other semi-final will be a match between seventh seed Diane Parry of France and Suzan Lamens of the Netherlands.
Parry defeated Clara Tauson of Denmark 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 in two hours and 17 minutes, while Lamens needed six minutes longer to come from behind to overcome Ana Bogdan of Romania 4-6, 6-3, 6 :3 to get close.
