World number 101 Krystina Pliskova came back from one set down in her 4-6 6-3 7-5 win over 2009 Roland Garros champion Svetlana Kuznetsova after 2 hours and 5 minutes at the Samsung Open in Lugano to reach her first semifinal since her run to the final in Prague 2017.
Krystina Pliskova (the twin sister of Karolina) had already beaten Kuznetsova in three sets in the second round at Wimbledon 2015 after coming back from a set down.
The first set featured 20 break points. Kuznetsova got an immediate break in the first game on her second chance. Pliskova converted her third break-back chance in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. Kuznetsova earned a second break lead in the fifth game at deuce to take a 3-2 lead, but Pliskova broke straight back in the sixth game. Kuznetsova broke for the third time to take a 4-3 lead. Pliskova saved three set points to hold her serve for 4-5, as she was serving to stay in the set in the ninth game. Kuznetsova served out the first set on her fourth set point.
Pliskova held her service games and broke serve in the fourth game on her only chance to take a 3-1 lead. The Czech player held serve at 30 to seal the second set 6-3 forcing the match to the decider.
Pliskova saved five break point chance in the second game of the third set before converting her second break point chance in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. Kuznetsova broke back in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4. Pliskova reeled off 12 of the final 14 points at 4-5 to reel off the final three games thanks to a break in the 11th game securing her spot in the semifinal.
Pliskova will face Polish 17-year-old Iga Swiatek (Wimbledon Junior champion in 2018), who rallied from one set down to beat Vera Lapko 4-6 6-4 6-1 after 2 hours and 4 minutes. Lapko saved ten of the eleven break point chances she faced in the first set and broke serve twice in the ninth game to seal the first set 6-4. Both players traded breaks twice in the second set en route to 4-4. Swiatek sealed the second set 6-4 with a break in the 10th game. Swiatek went down a break in the first game of the decisive set, but she won six consecutive games with three breaks to close out the third set 6-1.
Polona Hercog from Slovenia beat Veronika Kudemertova 6-4 6-1 after 1 hour and 26 minutes. Hercog converted 5 of her 13 break points. The Slovenian player went down a break in the seventh game, but she came back by winning three consecutive games with two breaks to take the first set 6-4. Hercog went up a double break to race out to a 4-0 lead. Kudemertova pulled back one of the two breaks, but Hercog broke for the third time to close out the third set 6-1.
Twenty-two French player Fiona Ferro battled past Switzerland’s Stefanie Voegele 7-5 7-6 (7-5) after 1 hour and 54 minutes. Ferro came back from 4-5 down by winning three consecutive games to clinch the opening set 7-5. The young French player recovered from a break down in the seventh game of the second set with a break back in the eighth game before winning the tie-break 7-5 to secure her spot in the semifinal without dropping a set during the week.
