Top seed Bianca Andreescu advanced to the semi-finals of the Thailand Open on Friday. The Canadian defeated fifth seed Marta Kostyuk 6-0, 7-6(3) in an hour and 28 minutes. Andreescu was almost perfect in the first set. She won 82% of her first-serve points, 62% of her second-serve points and 83% points on return on Kostyuk’s second serve.
She also saved the lone break point she faced while converting three of the four break points on the Ukrainian’s serve. The second set, the 2019 US Open winner led 5-1 before Kostyuk stepped up. Andreescu failed to save both break point she faced in the set but managed to claim a straight sets win for herself after taking the tie-break.
Thailand Open: Lesia Tsurenko’s first SF after four years
In the semi-finals, the 22-year-old will play another Ukrainian, Lesia Tsurenko. Tsurenko upset sixth seed Tatjana Maria 6-1, 6-1 in 75 minutes. Tsurenko won 72% of her first-serve points to the German’s 51%.
She also won 19 of 26 points on return on Maria’s second serve. The 33-year-old lost her serve once in the match but went on to convert six of the 10 break point chances that she had on the 2022 Wimbledon semi-finalist’s serve.
Meanwhile, in the bottom half of the draw, Lin Zhu reached the semi-finals with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Tamara Zidansek in an hour and 15 minutes. The Slovenian failed to save five of the six break points she faced while Zhu saved all but one of the five break points she faced.
Zhu’s semi-final opponent at the Thailand Open will be fellow Chinese player, Xinyu Wang. Wang played the only three-setter of the day to defeat Heather Watson 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4 in two hours and 40 minutes. This week Wang and Zhu have also teamed up in the doubles draw and have reached the finals after scoring a 6-2, 6-3 win over Thai team of Luksika Kumkhum and Peangtarn Plipuech. Photo Credit: Thailand Open Twitter
