Mayar Sherif is on a roll, and Paula Badosa is feeling it again. The Egyptian tennis standout defeated the Spanish player 7-6 (4), 6-7 (2), 6-4 on Friday to punch her ticket to the semifinals of the MSC Hamburg Ladies Open in Germany — saving 11 of 18 break points along the way.
The two had already faced off just days earlier, when Sherif claimed the title at the Iasi Open in Romania after Badosa was forced to retire from the championship match with a leg injury. This time around, there was no early exit — the pair battled through a marathon three hours and 26 minutes before Sherif finally closed it out. Badosa struggled with her serve, committing 12 double faults throughout the contest.
Sherif’s next opponent will be fifth-seeded German Tamara Korpatsch, who eliminated second-seeded Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine 6-3, 1-6, 6-1. Korpatsch was particularly dominant on return, winning 10 of 12 second-return points, a rate of 83.3 percent.
On the other side of the draw, fourth-seeded Anna Bondar of Hungary defeated Armenia’s Alina Charaeva 6-1, 7-6 (3). Bondar will meet fellow Armenian Elina Avanesyan in the semifinals after Avanesyan advanced via walkover when top-seeded Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine pulled out of the tournament with an abdominal injury.
Prague Open
In Prague, fifth-seeded Tereza Valentova overcame a sluggish opening set to upset top-seeded Marie Bouzkova 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6) in an all-Czech semifinal clash. Valentova stayed alive by winning the 12th game of the third set to force a tiebreaker, then sealed the deal by taking the final two points.
The match lasted two hours and 44 minutes. Bouzkova managed four aces but hurt her own cause with six double faults.
Valentova will next take on eighth-seeded Daria Snigur, who dominated Thailand’s Lanlana Tararudee with a 6-0, 6-3 victory. The Ukrainian converted 24 of 31 first-serve points, a 77.4 percent success rate.
Second-seeded Barbora Krejcikova dispatched fellow Czech Dominika Salkova 6-3, 6-3 in just 79 minutes. Her semifinal opponent will be Austria’s Lilli Tagger, who knocked out third-seeded Czech Sara Bejlek 6-3, 6-4.
