Lara Arruabarrena is the highest ranked player left. The Spaniard defeated Sachia Vickery with ease 6-2 6-0 in exactly one hour. Arruabarrena played amazingly, getting 81% of serves, in while Vickery helped her opponent with 8 double faults. Arruabarrena looks to be the favorite to win the tournament, being the highest seed left and in great form.
The other seed in the semifinals is the American Irina Falconi. The 5th seed stopped the dream run of the Argentinian qualifier Catalina Pella. The Ecuador-born American won 6-1 6-4 in an hour and 4 minutes. Falconi managed to expose her opponent’s biggest weakness on the second serve, as Pella won only 25% of the points after her second serve.
Another Spaniard in the semifinals will be Silvia Soler-Espinosa, who is going through a tough spot in her career, dropping down to No. 170 in the rankings. Soler-Espinosa has been as high as No. 54 in her career. She won her quarterfinal match in straight sets as well, beating Swiss Amra Sadikovic 6-4 6-4 in an hour and 17 minutes. Despite her height of 186 cm, Sadikovic struggled on serve, producing 4 double faults and winning only 30% of points after second serves.
Paula Goncalves is in her first semifinal of her career, defeating the giant slayer of the tournament, Alexandra Panova. Panova defeated the first seed Elina Svitolina earlier in the tournament, but this time she did not succeed. Goncalves really took her opportunities and fought really hard. The Brazilian won 81% of the points after first serve, and saved 9 out of 11 break points.
