Ostapenko exits China, Vekic loving Tokyo

Top seed in Seoul, Jelena Ostapenko, followed the lead of top seed Caroline Wozniacki in Tokyo, by losing in the second round.

It was Ekaterina Alexandrova, from Russia, ranked 122, who did the damage. Ekaterina had previously won 7 ITF titles and 1 WTA title, the latter in Limoges, France in November 2016.

There she defeated Alizé Cornet and Caroline Garcia, seeded 2 and 1 in the semis and final respectively.

However, the Ostapenko win, 6-3 6-2, was her first over a top ten player.

The quarter final opponent for Alexandrova would be Su-Wei Hsieh (6).

Seoul quarter finals

• Ajla Tomljanovic defeated Mandy Minella 6-2 4-6 7-5
• Kiki Bertens (2) defeated Evgeniya Rodina 3-6 6-3 6-0
• Maria Sakkari (3) defeated Irina-Camelia Begu (7) 6-3 4-6 6-4, and will play Kiki Bertens in the semis
• Su-Wei Hsieh (6) put Ekaterina Alexandrova’s dream run to an end, winning 6-0 6-1 in only 50 minutes, and will play Ajla Tomljanovic in the semis

Tokyo quarter finals 

• Camila Giorgi defeated wildcard Vika Azarenka 5-3 (retired)
• Naomi Osaka (3) defeated Barbora Strycova (8) 6-3 6-4, and will play Camila Giorgi in the semis
• Karolina Pliskova (4) took two and a half hours to overcome qualifier Alison Riske 6-2 6-7(5) 7-6(4)
• Donna Vekic defeated Caroline Garcia (2) 6-3 6-4, her second top ten victim for the week - she will play her third top ten opponent, Karolina Pliskova, in the semis

If Donna wins her semi, she will move into her second final of 2018, the other in Washington in August where she fell at the last hurdle to Sveta Kuznetsova.  She will also at least equal a career high ranking. If Donna wins the Tokyo title, and that is clearly a monumental task, she will achieve the biggest moment of her career.

Guangzhou semi finals

• Yuliya Putintseva (5) defeated Bernarda Pera 6-1 6-4
• Qiang Wang (3) defeated Andrea Petkovic 6-2 6-2, and will play Yulia Putintseva in the final

This will be the second WTA final for Putintseva, having lost in St. Petersburg in February last year 

For Qiang Wang, it will also be WTA final number two, with a title win in Nanchang just this past July.