THE semi-finals of both the Stuttgart and Istanbul fantasy tennis tournaments saw some massive results and not altogether predictable ones at that. It’s an all-seed final at both competitions, with an even share of nations competing for the respective titles.

Heading into the Stuttgart finals are Garbine Muguruza and Elina Svitolina, after the duo downed their respective opposition. Svitolina came down hard against reigning champion Petra Kvitova, taking the win in straight sets. While Kvitova fought hard throughout she lost some of the intensity heading into the second after a stellar first set which saw the pair go to a tiebreaker. But Svitolina took all the momentum and ran with it, winning in an hour and a half 7-6 6-4.

Muguruza had a tougher time against second seed Naomi Osaka, dropping the first set before a consistent second and third set to almost cruise into the finals. Osaka took control early, winning the first few games to be well in control of the first set before Muguruza got on the board. But the Spaniard would not give up, taking Osaka to a tiebreaker before grabbing that momentum and running it home for the 6-7 6-4 6-1 victory.

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At Istanbul, both seeds reigned supreme against their respective unseeded competition, but both had tough encounters going to three sets. While Petra Martic had a solid start against Carla Suarez Navarro, she allowed the Spaniard a real look in in the second and third sets, dropping the second winning just the one game before being taken to a tiebreaker in the third. But Martic drew from her wealth of experience, winning her way through to the final with the 6-3 1-6 7-5 victory and plenty of drive to go one better than this performance. 

Taking on Martic for the title is Greece’s Maria Sakkari, with the fifth seed talent tasked with taking on Darya Kasatkina for her spot in the final. Kasatkina was a tough ask, putting everything out on the court and winning the first set as she did so. But while Kasatkina was solid, Sakkari did not let the first set get to her and came back strong despite a slow start to the second, mounting an impressive second set comeback to win the tiebreaker and take the match to a third set. While Kasatkina did not let up in the third, Sakkari had all the momentum and charged home for the finish, eventually winning 4-6 7-5 7-6 in over two hours.

STUTTGART SEMI FINALS RESULTS: 

[6] Garbine Muguruza (ESP) defeated [2] Naomi Osaka (JPN) 6-7 6-4 6-1
[4] Elina Svitolina (UKR) defeated [7] Petra Kvitova (CZE) 7-6 6-4

ISTANBUL SEMI FINALS RESULTS:

[3] Petra Martic (CRO) defeated Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) 6-3 1-6 7-5
[5] Maria Sakkari (GRE) defeated Darya Kasatkina (RUS) 4-6 7-5 7-6