Baptiste wins Abu Dhabi three-set battle as Raducanu cruises in Transylvania

Hailey Baptiste in action in Abu Dhabi.
Hailey Baptiste in action in Abu Dhabi.CHRISTOPHER PIKE / GETTY IMAGES EUROPE / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP

The United States' Hailey Baptiste defeated Russia's fifth-seeded Liudmila Samsonova on Thursday on the indoor hard court's only three-set match, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Mubadala ​Abu Dhabi Open in the United Arab Emirates.

Baptiste took advantage of her four aces compared to Samsonova's zero. Baptiste ‌advances to face Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, the No. 2 ‌seed who won convincingly against the Philippines' Alexandra Eala, 6-3, 6-3.

The Czech Republic's Sara Bejlek needed just 63 minutes to earn a 6-0, 6-2 win against the United ⁠Kingdom's Sonay Kartal. Denmark's third-seeded Clara Tauson handled the United States' ‌McCartney Kessler 6-3, 6-4, and will face Bejlek in the ​other semifinal.

Ostrava Open

No seeded players remain alive entering the semifinals after Germany's Tamara Korpatsch took down No. 6 seed Caty McNally 6-4, 6-2 in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Korpatsch moves on to face France's Diane Parry, who ‌skated past Nikola Bartunkova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-3 in 66 minutes.

The other semifinal will pit Great Britain's Katie Boulter against American Katie Volynets. Boulter won ⁠18 of 23 first-service points and beat Czech foe Linda Fruhvirtova 6-3, 6-2 in 68 minutes, while Volynets rallied to beat countrywoman Alycia Parks 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.

Transylvania Open

Top seed Emma Raducanu of Great Britain kept her perfect week going with a 6-0, 6-4 triumph over Poland's Maja Chwalinska in the quarterfinals in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Raducanu dropped only one service point in the first set as she cruised to victory. Her ⁠semifinal opponent will be Ukraine's Oleksandra Oliynykova, who ‌upset fourth seed Xinyu Wang of China 6-4, 6-4.

No. 3 seed Sorana Cirstea saved 5 of 7 break points as she took down No. 5 seed Anastasia Potapova of Austria 7-5, 6-4. Cirstea also will ⁠face a Ukrainian in the semis, Daria ​Snigur, who charged past China's Yue Yuan 4-6, 6-0, 7-5.