Korda advances to Adelaide International semis for second straight year

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — Third-seeded Sebastian Korda advanced to the Adelaide International semifinals for the second year in a row after beating Australian wild-card entry Christopher O’Connell 6-4, 6-4 on Thursday.

The 23-year-old American made last year’s final in Adelaide, where he lost to top-seeded Novak Djokovic in three sets after holding a championship point.

Korda will face Jiri Lehecka in the semifinals after the seventh-seeded Czech player beat Nicolas Jarry 6-4, 7-5.

Alexander Bublik earned a 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-5 win over fourth-seeded Lorenzo Musetti to set up a semifinal against Jack Draper, who beat top-seeded Tommy Paul 6-1, 6-4.

Sixth-seeded and 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko also advanced to the semifinals with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Marta Kostyuk in Adelaide.

Elena Rybakina, last year’s Australian Open finalist and winner of the Brisbane International on Sunday, was upset 6-3, 6-3 by Ekaterina Alexandrova. Ostapenko will play Alexandrova in the semifinals.

“It was a tough match, of course, but finally I won in two sets, I managed it,” Ostapenko said on court. “I feel like I was striking the ball well today. Even in the first set when it was 5-2 to 5-5, I still was playing my game, and then at the end I found it. Just happy to be through.”

Daria Kasatkina moved into the semifinals without having to hit a ball after her quarterfinal opponent, Laura Siegemund, withdrew from their match with an undisclosed illness or injury. Kasatkina is one win away from repeating her finals appearance at the second of last year’s two Adelaide events — the second was held during the second week of the Australian Open.

Kasatkina will play Jessica Pegula, who beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-7 (1), 7-5, 6-4.

MEHRTENS INTO SEMIS AT HOBART

Top-seeded Elise Mehrtens advanced to the semifinals of the Hobart International with a 7-5, 6-0 win over Arantxa Rus. Mehrtens is attempting to win her third Hobart title — the Belgian player won there in 2017 and 2018.

Emma Navarro beat Viktoriya Tomova 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and will play Yuan Yue, who beat Yulia Putintseva 7-5, 7-6 (4). Daria Saville defeated third-seeded Zhu Lin 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 and will play Mehrtens in the semifinals.

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