NÜRNBERG, May 25, 2017
The last German standing at the WTA Nürnberger Versicherungscup, Carina Witthöft, headlined quarterfinals action on Thursday but lost an epic encounter against Czech qualifier Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 3-6, 6-7.
The 22-year-old Hamburg native fought back from a break down in the third set, missed five match points in the 12th game and eventually lost in the tie-break 2-7. Krejcikova, who sent down eight aces, secured victory in two hours and 28 minutes.
The World No. 254 will next take on either the tournament’s number two Yulia Putintseva from Kazakhstan or Romanian Sorana Cirstea. The match was suspended at 6-3, 6-3, 4-4 due to darkness.
Top seed and defending champion Kiki Bertens also advanced to the semis, gaining a 6-4, 6-3 win over Alison Riske from the United States. The 25-year-old from the Netherlands won 70 per cent of her first service points and broke serve three times to prevail in one hour and 28 minutes.
“Nürnberg is very nice for me!”@kikibertens #Semifinals @WTA #defendingchampion #nuernbergercup pic.twitter.com/25hsujDDbh
— NürnbergerCup (@NuernbergerCup) 25. Mai 2017
Next up for Bertens will be Misaki Doi of Japan, who benefited from the retirement of seventh favourite Yaroslava Shvedova from Kazakhstan at the beginning of the second set, leading 6-4.
