Quarter finals in Dubai:
Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships - a WTA Premier 5 category tournament, on Hard Decoturf, in Dubai, UAE, 17-23 February 2019.
Defending champion:
Elina Svitolina who defeated Dasha Kasatkina 6-4 6-0
Quarter finals
- Su-Wei Hsieh v Karolina Pliskova (4)
Su-Wei entered this match having had a fine week, knocking off two top ten seeds - Anastasija Sevastova (10) in the opening round and Angie Kerber (5) in the round of sixteen. On both occasions, fight backs were required, Hsieh winning the final four games against Sevastova and the final eight against Kerber.
It was a match of contrasting styles, the tall Czech player with a power game, beginning with one of the biggest serves on tour, against a player seven years her senior and 17 cms shorter, relying on her slice and placement, and better movement around the court.
For seven games, the contest was even, with hardly a break opportunity arising.
Hsieh had 40-0 in game eight, but a pair of double faults led to a break point for Pliskova. A backhand saved that, and more break chances were also dismissed, 4-4 achieved.
Following a game of wasted chances, Pliskova then dropped serve, Hsieh using the single chance presented her, placing a backhand out of reach and taking the lead. Momentum clearly with her, the Chinese Taipei number one breezed through the next game to love and took the set 6-4.
Set two saw Pliskova display her power game in all its glory. She broke the Hsieh serve early and never had trouble when delivering herself. 3 more aces, and several unplayable serves put pressure on Hsieh and she relented once more for Pliskova to break for 5-1.
Serving for the set, Pliskova sealed it with an ace and then a backhand winner. 6-1.
It appeared a case of déjà vu in the deciding set as Pliskova achieved a double break to again reach 5-1. Then the comeback queen repeated her heroics from previous matches, forcing errors from the Czech racquet with clever shot making. Pliskova joined in with an increased donation of unforced errors, and the trajectory of the match dramatically changed.
Su-Wei not only retrieved both service breaks to take the lead 6-5, but pressured Karolina into error when the fourth seed was serving to stay in the match. Two match points arrived and it was a backhand mistake from the Czech Republic which propelled Su-Wei Hsieh into her first semi final at this level. 6-4 1-6 7-5. Incredible resilience displayed for the third time in the tournament.
- Petra Kvitová (2) defeated Viktoria Kuzmova 6-4 6-0
- Belinda Bencic defeated Simona Halep (3) 4-6 6-4 6-2, after trailing by a set and a break, with Halep having a chance for a double break in set two.
- Elina Svitolina (6) defeated Carla Suárez Navarro 6-2 6-3
Semi final match ups
Elina Svitolina (6) v Belinda Bencic
Su-Wei Hsieh v Petra Kvitová (2)
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