Unseeded Irina Begu of Romania will face No. 1 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece in the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Begu eliminated Tereza Martincova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals Friday, saving all four break points she faced in the one-hour, 25-minute match.
Sakkari advanced with a tough 7-6 (7), 6-2 win over No. 8 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium. Sakkari fended off three set points in the opening stanza and finally converted her fourth match point after two hours and seven minutes.
The other semifinal pits No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia against 2015 St. Petersburg champ and No. 7 seed Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia. Ostapenko survived a 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3 battle with Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, while Kontaveit reached the final four with a 7-6 (7), 6-2 defeat of No. 5 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland.
–Field Level Media