ILLNESS has forced third seed, Petra Kvitova to forfeit her St Petersburg Ladies Trophy quarter final clash, allowing safe passage for Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova into the semi-finals. It was not the only result where the lower ranked player took home the win, as sixth seed Maria Sakkari bundled out number one seeded Swiss star, Belinda Bencic in three sets.

The match took two hours and eight minutes, and Bencic looked to be in control early with a 6-2 win in the first set. The Greek up-and-comer did not give up and continued to fight, winning the next two sets courtesy of an extra break each set and getting up 2-6 6-4 6-3. The pair had never played before and while Sakkari’s serve was hit and miss – one ace and eight double faults – it was effective when it did go in, winning 67.3 per cent of her first serves and a superior 46.2 per cent of her second serves. She won a total of 55 per cent off the return and both players broke four times. While they might not have played before, that is likely to change in the future with both rising stars on the WTA Tour.

Sakkari now takes on another rising star in eighth seed Kazakhstan player, Elena Rybakina in the semi-finals, after the 20-year-old defeated Frenchwoman Oceane Dodin, 6-7 7-5 6-2 in a come-from-behind win. Meanwhile Alexandrova will have a tough task on her hands, having to face second seed and new tournament favourite, Kiki Bertens. The Dutchwoman survived a big challenge from Russian teenager, Anastasia Potapova to win 6-4 7-6 and now face another home court hero in Alexandrova. Given the Russian is in career-best form and on her preferred surface in her home country, it will be tough for Bertens who won here last year. For Alexandrova, she has already reached a stage further than 12 months ago, where she was bundled out in the quarter finals.

QUARTER FINALS RESULTS:

[6] Maria Sakkari (GRE) defeated [1] Belinda Bencic (SUI) 2-6 6-4 6-3
[2] Kiki Bertens (NED) defeated Anastasia Potapova (RUS) 6-4 7-6
Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS) defeated Petra Kvitova (CZE) W/O
[8] Elena Rybakina (KAZ) defeated Oceane Dodin (FRA) 6-7 7-5 6-2