by Sonay Kartal and Heather Watson are just one win away from Lexus W100 Shrewsbury after the British stars both reached the quarter-finals in straight sets.
Kartal passed a high-class competition with his 17-year-old compatriot Mimi Xu 7-6(6), 6-2.
“The last few weeks have been my best results and the last few months have been the best tennis I have ever played,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to tomorrow – it will be the first time I’m not playing against a Brit and it’s always hard playing against your friends. I hope I can reach an even higher level tomorrow.”
Last month’s Jasmin Open champion is in incredible form, having won 27 of her last 30 matches and continuing to enjoy great success on home soil, where she has already won four trophies this season.
The 22-year-old had to give her best against the US Open semi-finalist, who came back from a break and scored three set points in the first set tiebreak at 6-3. Kartal was full of praise for the British starlet after she claimed victory in one hour and 38 minutes.
For Xu – who trained at Loughborough University Tennis Academy and is now supported by the Pro Scholarship program presented by Lexus – this was her first singles quarter-final at W100 level.
“She is an incredible player and plays way beyond her age. In the first set her level was unbelievable and I’m not sure how I won that in the end, maybe a bit of luck.”
After a 7-6(4), 6-4 win over France’s Chloe Paquet in the opening game on day four, Watson is assured of a place in the semi-finals.
British No.5 Watson is yet to lose a set in Shrewsbury and continued her impressive form against the fourth seed and world No.105.
“It’s so nice to be back here in Shrewsbury, I love playing on home turf,” said Watson. “It was a tough game today – Chloe is a good friend of mine and we train together a lot. I had to play good tennis and dig deep.
“I feel like at this stage of my career I’m playing my best tennis and enjoying it more than ever before.”
The Lexus GB Billie Jean King Cup star bounced back from an early defeat in the opening set to eventually complete the tiebreak in just under an hour.
With two break points and a 4-3 lead in the second game, Watson forced a costly error from the French star before ending the game with a love hold.
On Saturday, Watson will face Switzerland’s Simona Walter, who defeated sixth seed Daria Snigur 6-2, 6-2.
Third seed Kartal will look to continue their run to the final against the winner of world No. 92 Oceane Dodin and Oksana Selekhmeteva.
of Great Britain Hannah Klugman And Ranah Stoiber are in the doubles final after defeating Lian Tran and Marina Melnikova 6-0, 6-1.
They are guaranteed to meet another Brit in the final – against the winner of the second semi-final between top seed Francisca Jorge and Brit Maia Lumsden against rising stars Amelia Rajecki And Xu.
