WTA Seoul: Yafan Wang, Magda Linette and Kirsten Flipkens reach QF

• Tennis News
• On the WTA results with

The 8th seed Yafan Wang is through to the last eight in Seoul, defeating Ysaline Bonaventure 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 in an hour and 47 minutes. The Chinese served at only 50% and suffered three breaks and it was her performance on the return that pushed her into the next round, creating 17 break chances and converting seven to keep the scoreboard on her side from the middle of the second set.

The Belgian claimed the opener with two breaks and forged a double break lead in set number two before fading away from the court, allowing Yafan to grab the remaining six games of the second set and all six in the decider to march over the finish line.

With nothing left in the tank, Ysaline grabbed only seven points in the final set, allowing Wang to serve a bagel and advance in style. The 4th seed Magda Linette needed two hours and 17 minutes to beat the young Russian Anastasia Potapova 7-5, 7-6, avenging Madrid loss from May.

The Pole got broken three times and needed a lot of chances on the return to erase that deficit, converting four out of 14 opportunities to cross the finish line first and avoid the deciding set and more drama. Linette led 4-1 in the opening set before Potapova claimed four straight games, moving 5-4 up and serving for the set in the tenth game.

Out of sudden, Magda broke back and stole the last three games of the set for a 7-5, hoping for a more comfortable second part of the encounter. Instead of that, Anastasia played well in set number two as well, earning a break in game nine and serving for the set, just like in the opener.

Staying focused, Linette broke back to level the score at 5-5 and grabbed the tie break 7-4 to seal the deal in straight sets and move through to the last eight. Kirsten Flipkens toppled the 7th seed Margarita Gasparyan 6-3, 7-5 in an hour and 48 minutes, fending off six out of nine break chances and scoring five breaks from 14 opportunities to stay on the title course.

A break in game four was enough for the Belgian to claim the opening set, creating a 4-1 gap in the second and wasting a match point at 5-4 when Gasparyan broke back to prolong the set and her chances. Nonetheless, Flipkens broke again in the 11th game and sealed the deal on her own serve a few minutes later, earning much-needed points that should bring her back into the top-100.

Kristie Ahn is still drawing the most from her wild card, beating Ana Bogdan 0-6, 6-4, 7-6 for the place in the quarters. After a terrible start and that bagel she received, Ahn started to play much better in set number two, sealing through her service games and claiming one break to set up a decider where Bogdan created a 5-3 gap, only to get broken in the next game and lose the tie break that propelled the American through.

The 2nd seed Ekaterina Alexandrova ousted Kristyna Pliskova 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the clash with only three breaks, one in each set.