Cincinnati (Agencies): World number one Ashleigh Barty eased through to the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Open with victory over Barbora Krejcikova.
Australian Barty beat the Czech ninth seed 6-2 6-4, but had to recover from a break down in the second set.
The 25-year-old, two-time Grand Slam champion will face Angelique Kerber next after Petra Kvitova retired injured from their quarter-final.
Germany’s Kerber was leading 6-4 3-3 when she was awarded the win.
Czech world number 11 Kvitova later said she had been struggling
with a “stomach issue” for several days.
Wimbledon finalist and fifth seed Karolina Pliskova will face Swiss player Jil Teichmann in the other semi-final after her last-eight opponent Paula Badosa retired from the match.
Czech Pliskova took a tight first set 7-5 but Spaniard Badosa called time after two games in the second set due a right shoulder injury.
Teichmann, who is a wildcard at the tournament, eased to a 6-3 6-2 win over compatriot Belinda Bencic.
In the men’s tournament, Russian top seed Daniil Medvedev crushed Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta 6-1 6-1 to set up a semi-final meeting with compatriot Andrey Rublev.
Fourth seed Rublev progressed after defeating Frenchman Benoit Paire 6-2 3-6 6-3.
A repeat of the French Open semi-final is in store as Tokyo 2020 gold medallist Alexander Zverev and world number three Stefanos Tsitsipas face each other once again.
German Zverev easily overcome Norwegian Casper Ruud 6-1 6-3, while Greek Tsitsipas needed three sets to defeat Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime 6-2 5-7 6-1 after dropping two match points in the second set.
