GUANGZHOU, China:Rising British star Laura Robson yesterday reached the semifinals of the WTA Guangzhou Open by defeating China’s Peng Shuai 7-5, 5-7, 6-2.
The 18-year-old world No.74, who made it through to the last 16 at the US Open earlier this month with wins over Li Na and Kim Clijsters, needed more than three hours to defeat her Chinese opponent, ranked 27 places above her.
To reach the last eight Robson had defeated the second seed, Zheng Jie of China 6-3, 6-3. She next plays third-seeded Sorana Cirstea, the world No.30 for a place in the final. The Romanian beat Alize Cornet of France 6-4, 6-3.
The second semi-final will be between Ursula Radwanska of Poland and Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan.
Robson is the first British woman to reach a main tour singles semifinal since Anne Keothavong at the Luxembourg Open in October 2011.
Klizan in quarters
In St. Petersburg, Russia, third-seeded Martin Klizan of Slovakia advanced to the quarterfinals of the St. Petersburg Open, beating Simone Bolelli of Italy 6-3, 6-3 yesterday.
Klizan hit five aces and never faced a break point. He will next play Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania, who advanced when eighth-seeded Jurgen Zopp of Estonia retired with a back injury after losing the first set 6-3.
Fourth-seeded Fabio Fognini also advanced, eliminating 2009 champion Serghiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine 7-6 (4), 6-4, while fellow Italian Flavio Cipolla made the final eight with a 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-3 win over Grega Zemlja of Slovenia.
In other second-round matches, Gimeno-Traver ousted Lukasz Kubot of Poland, 6-4, 7-6 (5), and fellow Spaniard Roberto Bautista-Agut beat Russia’s Teimuraz Gabashvili 6-3, 6-4.