Emma Raducanu cruises into Korea Open semi-finals

Raducanu
required
just
77
minutes
to
see
off
the
third
seed
for
a
6-2
6-2
win,
dominating
from
the
outset
to
clinch
her
first
final
four
spot
in
any
tournament
since
last
year’s
famous
US
Open
triumph.

Having
wrapped
up
the
opener
with
a
fierce
backhand
winner,
Raducanu
was
forced
to
endure
a
brief
revival
from
Linette
in
the
second
set,
before
the
Pole
was
troubled
by
a
thigh
injury.

Linette
lost
14
of
the
first
17
points
on
resumption
after
a
medical
time
out,
struggling
with
her
movement
as
Raducanu
saw
out
the
match.

Raducanu
has
yet
to
drop
a
set
during
her
run
in
Seoul,
but
will
face
a
stern
test
in
the
semi-finals
after
Ostapenko
overcame
17-year-old
Victoria
Jimenez
Kasintseva
6-2
6-1,
setting
up
a
first
career
meeting
between
the
duo.

On
the
other
side
of
the
draw,
Ekaterina
Alexandrova
earned
a
hard-fought
7-5
7-6
(8-6)
win
over
Lulu
Radovcic,
but
fourth
seed
Zhu
Lin
crashed
out
to
Tatjana
Maria,
losing
6-1
6-1.

In
the
Pan
Pacific
Open
in
Tokyo,
meanwhile,
Garbine
Muguruza
fell
to
a
shock
6-4
6-2
quarter-final
defeat
to
Liudmila
Samsonova,
handing
the
Russian
her
16th
win
in
her
last
17
outings.

She
will
meet
Zhang
Shuai
in
the
next
round,
after
she
became
the
first
Chinese
player
to
make
the
last
four
in
Tokyo
since
2009
by
beating
Petra
Martic
7-5
6-2.

In
a
battle
between
the
competition’s
fourth
and
fifth
seeds,
meanwhile,
Veronika
Kudermetova
rallied
to
beat
Brazil’s
Beatriz
Haddad
Maia
6-7
(4-7)
7-6
(8-6)
6-1.