GUADALAJARA (AFP) – Fourth-seeded Caroline Garcia of France advanced to the semi-finals of the WTA hard court tournament in Guadalajara on Friday as ailing sixth seed Marie Bouzkova withdrew before their scheduled quarter-final.
Garcia, 30, had fought through two tiebreak sets to edge Japanese qualifier Ena Shibahara on Thursday, snapping a three-match losing streak that included a first-round exit at the United States (US) Open.
Garcia next faces fifth-seeded Magdalena Frech of Poland, who beat Canadian teenager Marina Stakusic 6-4, 6-3.
Frech needed an hour and 44 minutes to get past Stakusic, who had saved four match points on the way to a second-round upset of top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko on Thursday.
Australian qualifier Olivia Gadecki was the first player to book a semi-final berth, seeing off Italian Martina Trevisan 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.
The victory puts Gadecki through to her first WTA semi-final.
She had reached the quarters for the first time with victories over former US Open champion Sloane Stephens and second-seeded American Danielle Collins.
Gadecki will play Colombian Camila Osorio for a place in the final. Osorio defeated Russian Kamilla Rakhimova 7-6 (8/6), 6-2.
