Gauff wins in Berlin, reaches 1st grass semis

BERLIN – Seventh-seeded Coco Gauff served five aces and reached a grass-court semifinal for the first time by ousting fourth-seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 6-4 at the bett1open German Open in Berlin.

The 18-year-old French Open finallist won 74.5 per cent of her first-serve points while prevailing in 97 minutes.

Gauff will next face top-seeded Ons Jabeur after the Tunisian posted a 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2 victory over Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus. Jabeur had eight aces in the victory, Reuters reported.

Second-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece recorded a 6-0, 6-3 win over sixth-seeded Russian Daria Kasatkina. Sakkari next faces eighth-seeded Swiss Belinda Bencic, who rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Veronika Kudermetova of Russia.

Elsewhere, Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil saved five of six break points while producing a convincing 6-3, 6-2 victory over third-seeded Italian Camila Giorgi to reach the semifinals at Birmingham, England.

Haddad Maia will next face second-seeded Simona Halep of Romania. Halep won the final five games while beating Brit Katie Boulter 6-4, 6-1.

Sixth-seeded Romanian Sorana Cirstea notched a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 win over Croatia’s Donna Vekic. Cirstea’s semifinal opponent will be Chinese eighth seed Shuai Zhang, who registered a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska.