Dubai: Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei pulled off another stunning upset to reach the semifinals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships here Thursday, when she staged a remarkable late rally to beat fourth seed Karolina Pliskova 6-4, 1-6, 7-5.
However, a greater stunner was in the offing later in the day when, unseeded Swiss youngster Belinda Bencic ousted World No.2 Simona Halep 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 in a seesaw quarterfinal.
The unseeded Hsieh, who knocked Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber out of the last 16 Wednesday, was on the ropes at 1-5 down in the deciding set against the big-serving Pliskova, but won the last six games to deny the Czech victory.
Hsieh will battle Pliskova’s compatriot, two-times Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, for a place in Saturday’s final after the second-seeded Czech dispatched Slovakian Viktoria Kuzmova 6-4, 6-0 in a one-side quarterfinal lasting 62 minutes.
Kvitova, who was champion in Dubai in 2013 sent down 21 winners and won 74 per cent of her first serve points while making 12 unforced errors as she dominated from start to finish.
“I didn’t give (Kuzmova) any time to do her job, maybe turn the match in her way,” Kvitova said after the win.
“(Hsieh is) a tough and tricky opponent. I played her in Sydney in a really tough match. Will be probably some rallies tomorrow, and I need to be ready for every shot she’s going to bring to the game,” Kvitova added.
Bencic, ranked 45th, broke Halep’s serve seven times in Thursday’s contest before claiming victory on her third match point as her Romanian opponent ran out of steam.
Agencies
