THE St. Petersburg all-Russian semi-finals have been decided with the home nation eliminating the final foreign player, whilst the first two quarter finals are in the books in Monterrey.

The top two seeds have been ousted in the heavily-weighted Russian St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy quarter finals, with Ekaterina Alexandrova and Veronika Kudermetova both dumped from the tournament after losses overnight. Alexandrova went down to Russian wildcard Margarita Gasparyan in one of three all-Russian clashes of the four matches, with Kudermetova also losing to a compatriot in eighth seed, Daria Kasatkina. Gasparyan won 6-2 7-5 in straight sets to advance through to the final four, while Kasatkina bounced back from a disappointing first set to dominate in the final two sets and win 1-6 6-1 6-2 in an hour and 41 minutes.

Fourth seed Svetlana Kuznetsova removed the final non-Russian at the event, with Romanian qualifier Jacqueline Cristian defeated in three sets, 6-7 6-3 6-3 in two hours and 15 minutes. It meant the semi-finals are all from the home nation in what was a stunning effort, the first time in 28 years that seven of the eight quarter finalists had been from the same country.

In the last quarter final of the day, veteran wildcard Vera Zvonareva also made her way into the semi-finals, overcoming qualifier Anastasia Gasanova in the third all-Russian battle. That match lasted just one hour and 22 minutes, two more minutes than Gasparyan’s upset of Alexandrova. The semi-finals tomorrow will see the two wildcards face off up first from 2pm local time, as Gasparyan and Zvonareva go head-to-head, whilst the all-seeded battle of Kuznetsova and Kasatkina is up in the second match.

“It’s amazing, we played first round qualies last year and now we’re here facing each other in the semi-final,” Zvonareva said post-match of her upcoming clash with Gasparyan. “She’s a great player – she’s hitting the ball very hard and her backhand is great, a one-handed backhand which is very unusual for the women’s game.”

ST. PETERSBURG LADIES TROPHY QUARTER FINALS RESULTS:

[WC] Margarita Gasparyan (RUS) defeated [1] Ekaterina Alexandrova (RUS) 6-2 7-5
[8] Daria Kasatkina (RUS) defeated [2] Veronika Kudermetova (RUS) 1-6 6-1 6-2
[4] Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) defeated [Q]  Jacqueline Cristian (ROU) 6-7 6-3 6-3
[WC] Vera Zvonareva (RUS) defeated [Q] Anastasia Gasanova (RUS) 6-3 6-1

The first two of four quarter finals at the Abierto GNP Seguros in Monterrey, Mexico were completed at the time of publishing, with eighth seed Ann Li and Canadian up-and-comer Leylah Fernandez both booking their spots in the final four. The American talent won 7-5 6-1, defeating China’s Zheng Saisai in one hour and 48 minutes to advance through to the semis.

Li upset the third seed despite serving the only four double faults of the match, also winning 60.5 and 58.1 per cent of her first and second serve points off an inconsistent 46.9 serving clip. Saisai had a higher first serve efficiency of 70.1 per cent, but struggled to capitalise on that, winning just 46.8 per cent of her first serve points. She was also broken five times from seven chances, and could only break twice from 10 chances herself during the loss.

After a tight first set, Fernandez stepped up at 5-5 to win seven consecutive games and run out a dominant winner, 7-5 6-3 against Russian Viktoria Kuzmova. The match lasted around an hour and 45 minutes and secured her spot in the semi-final to face one of Anna Karolina Schmiedlova or seventh seed Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo.

In yesterday’s late results, qualifying duo Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic and Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya both advanced through to the last eight with the pair to play later today. Golubic defeated United States’ Lauren Davis in just 69 minutes on court, while Kalinskaya defeated Serbian Nina Stojanovic, 6-4 6-3 in 84 minutes.

MONTERREY QUARTER FINALS RESULTS:

[8] Ann Li (USA) defeated [3] Zheng Saisai (CHN) 7-5 6-1
Leylah Fernandez defeated (CAN) defeated Viktoria Kuzmova (SVK) 7-5 6-3

Viktorija Golubic (SUI) vs. Anna Kalinskaya (RUS)
Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (SVK) vs. [7] Sara Sorribes Tormo (ESP)

MONTERREY ROUND OF 16 RESULTS:

[Q] Viktorija Golubic (SUI) defeated Lauren Davis (USA) 6-3 6-1
[Q] Anna Kalinskaya (RUS) defeated Nina Stojanovic (SRB) 6-4 6-3

Picture credit: Jimmie 48/WTA