Transylvania Open: Simona Halep, Anett Kontaveit, Marta Kostyuk reach last-eight

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Simona Halep reached the quarterfinals of the Transylvania Open on Friday. The tournament top seed defeated Varvara Gracheva 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and 14 minutes. Despite battling a back injury, Halep was able to outplay her opponent.

The opening set was a little too close for comfort for the Romanian, but the second set decidedly swung in her favour. Halep won 81% of her first-serve points to Gracheva’s 62% and 55% of her second-serve points to the latter’s 38%.

In terms of breakpoint conversion, Halep had 12 breakpoint chances of which she converted four, losing her serve once across the match. She won a total of 63 points in the match to her opponent’s 45. For a place in the semi-finals, Halep will take on fellow Romanian, Jaqueline Cristian.

Transylvania Open: Anett Kontaveit's eyes are on the WTA Finals' prize

Meanwhile, another of Halep’s compatriots, Irina Bara lost in the second round. Rebecca Peterson defeated the Romanian wildcard 6-0, 6-3 in an hour and 13 minutes to reach the quarters.

Peterson saved both break points she faced while converting four of the 10 breakpoint opportunities she had on Bara’s serve. The Swede will play Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko next. Tsurenko’s compatriot, Marta Kostyuk also clinched her place in the quarters in Cluj-Napoca.

The sixth-seeded Kostyuk won 6-4, 6-4 against Mona Barthel in an hour and 11 minutes. Kostyuk won 68% of her first-serve points to the German’s 64% and almost 60% of her second-serve points to the latter’s 40%. She made good of four of the five breakpoint chances she had on Barthel’s serve while losing her serve twice – once in each set.

Kostyuk won 64 points for the match to Barthel’s 51. Next up for Kostyuk is fellow teen, Emma Raducanu. The third-seeded Raducanu defeated Ana Bogdan 6-3, 6-4 to make it through to the quarterfinals. This will be the first meeting between the Briton and Ukrainian.

Lastly, second seed Anett Kontaveit also took her place in the quarters of the Transylvania Open. The Estonian beat Alison Van Uytvanck 6-3, 6-4 in 70 minutes in their round-of-16 clash. Kontaveit who’s seeking the title in Romania this week to be able to qualify for the WTA Finals will play eighth seed Anhelina Kalinina for a chance to reach the semi-finals. Photo Credit: Transylvania Open Twitter