THE quarter finals began with a bang, with a couple of big names dropping like flies across both the Stuttgart and Istanbul fantasy tennis tournaments. There are no unseeded competitors left at the Stuttgart Open heading into the semi-finals, while two unseeded talents will head into the semis from Istanbul.

Naomi Osaka continued her strong form at Stuttgart, not stopped at all in her tracks by eighth seed Dayana Yastremska. Yastremska had a frankly awful start against the Japanese talent, unable to rack up a single game in the first and failing to do so until the 45th minute of the match, going down 6-0 6-2. Osaka has a tendency to err on the inconsistent side but has rarely skipped a beat in recent tournaments, making her a real chance to steal the victory as the highest seed remaining here.

Third seed Kiki Bertens could not back up her stellar Round of 16 victory, going down to sixth seed Spaniard Garbine Muguruza. The win was well within reach for Bertens for much of the match, just missing out on the first set thanks to a tiebreaker before winning the second, but Muguruza’s third set win cemented the victory, 7-5 4-6 6-4.

Fourth seed Elina Svitolina and seventh seed Petra Kvitova were both successful beating their respective unseeded opposition, though neither had an easy time of it. Svitolina’s opposition in Elise Mertens was a tough beat, with Mertens winning the first set tie breaker before falling flat in the second and third.

While Svitolina managed to grab the upper hand in the second after a slow start to the set, she eventually pulled through for what was a comprehensive 6-7 6-2 6-1 victory. Kazakh competitor Yulia Putintseva went down in straight sets to the competition favourite in Kvitova, but put up a solid attempt in the second to take the Czech star to a third set. Kvitova ended up going forward to the semi-finals with the 6-3 7-5 win but will be ruing earlier missed opportunities to cement an easier win ahead of a tough next round.

— 

At Istanbul, just the two seeds head through to the semi-finals, after fifth seed Maria Sakkari fought off a threatening Madison Keys, who came in as fourth seed. Keys was not going to go down without a fight, making the Greek winner fight for the victory, eventually reigning supreme 6-4 6-7 6-4.

Young gun Iga Swiatek’s Istanbul journey stops here after going down to third seed Croatian, Petra Martic in three sets. Swiatek had a stellar start to the match but could not compete with Martic’s endurance and vicious attacking style of play, and while she snatched the first set 1-6 she could not continue that form with Martic winning 1-6 7-6 6-3.

The two unseeded games were far more uneven in their results, with neither winners taken to a third set by their respective opposition. With almost identical final scores, both Darya Kasatkina and Carla Suarez Navarro head through to the quarter finals. Kasatkina ran down Danka Kovinic, with the Montenegrin starring on day four with her stellar victory over Serena Williams but unable to defend that victory with another one, going down to Kasatkina 6-3 6-1.

Similarly, Liudmila Samsonova went down to Suarez Navarro after a stellar day three victory over second seed Elena Rybakina. Suarez Navarro was just too strong, not allowing a single game to be won against her in the second set for the 6-3 6-0 victory.

The semi-finals begin tomorrow, with Stuttgart’s draw seeing massive clashes between Muguruza and Osaka, and Svitolina and Kvitova respectively. At Istanbul, expect some big clashes when the seeds face the unseeded, with Martic going head to head with Suarez Navarro and Sakkari with Kasatkina.

STUTTGART QUARTER FINALS RESULTS: 

[2] Naomi Osaka (JPN) defeated [8] Dayana Yastremska (UKR) 6-0 6-2
[6] Garbine Muguruza (ESP) defeated [3] Kiki Bertens (NED) 7-5 4-6 6-4
[4] Elina Svitolina (UKR) defeated Elise Mertens (BEL) 6-7 6-2 6-1
[7] Petra Kvitova (CZE) defeated Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) 6-3 7-5

ISTANBUL QUARTER FINALS RESULTS:

[3] Petra Martic (CRO) defeated Iga Swiatek (POL) 1-6 7-6 6-3
[5] Maria Sakkari (GRE) defeated [4] Madison Keys (USA) 6-4 6-7 6-4
Darya Kasatkina (RUS) defeated Danka Kovinic (MON) 6-3 6-1
Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) defeated Liudmila Samsonova (RUS) 6-3 6-0