Alexandra Shubladze stuns top seed Sorana Cirstea in Hong Kong

RUSSIAN qualifier Alexandra Shubladze shocked top seed Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-3 on Friday at the Prudential Hong Tennis Open to advance to her first tour- level semifinal.

Shubladze, 21, registered her first win over a top-20 player against Romania's Cirstea, a 36-year-old ranked 15th. Shubladze, who is making her tour-level debut and is ranked No. 136, had not previously faced a top-30 opponent.

She won 5 of 8 break-point opportunities and saved 7 of 8 in the match lasting one hour, 27 minutes. She will face American Claire Lui, who defeated Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey 6-1, 6-4.

Second-seeded Alexandra Eala of the Philippines won a battle with Croatia's Antonia Ruzic 7-6 (7), 7-5 to advance to the semifinals against fourth-seeded Maria Sakkari of Greece, who eliminated Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-2, 6-3.

Chennai Open

Top seed Janice Tjen rallied past sixth-seeded Polina Kudermetova of Uzbekistan 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the WTA 250 event in India.

Tjen, of Indonesia, continues her title defense after powering to victory behind 13 aces to just two double faults. She faced four break points, saving two, while Kudermetova saved 8 of 12.

Third-seeded Magda Linette of Poland also had a winning response to dropping the first set in a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Japan's Mai Hontama. Linette faces seventh-seeded Anastasia Zakharova in the semifinals.

Zakharova of Russia dispatched 10th-seeded Lucrezia Stefanini, with the Italian retiring with a lower-leg injury down 6-2, 5-2 in the quarterfinal match. American Robin Montgomery ousted another unseeded player, Maaya Rajeshwaran Revathi of India 6-3, 6-3, to earn a semifinal match against Tjen. — REUTERS