SANTA PONSA, June 22, 2018

Sofia Kenin earned her first victory against a top 10 player by beating top seed Caroline Garcia in the quarterfinals of the Mallorca Open on Friday. The 19-year-old US-American qualifier sent down seven aces to seal a 6-3, 6-3 victory in one hour and 21 minutes, reaching the stage of the final four on the WTA Tour for the first time.

“I’m very happy. She’s a great player. It was a really tough match and I knew I had to fight until the end. I knew I was playing well and I had a lot of confidence,” Kenin said afterwards.

“I had to fight but I knew I could do it. I started getting a little nervous closing the match, but I was able to win, so that’s important.

“I love grass a lot, so I know this is my surface. I got a lot of match play [coming out of the qualifying]…but it’s good match play, and I won a lot of good matches.”

Kenin will next challenge Tatjana Maria of Germany, who edged out No. 7 seed Lucie Safarova from the Czech Republic 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 in two hours and 34 minutes.

In the second semi-final, the last seeded player standing in the singles draw, Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia will take on Australian veteran Samantha Stosur.

RESULTS – JUNE 22, 2018

Singles – Quarterfinals
[Q] S. Kenin (USA) d [1] C. Garcia (FRA) 63 63
[3] A. Sevastova (LAT) d [Q] A. Tomljanovic (AUS) 36 63 61
T. Maria (GER) d [7] L. Safarova (CZE) 76(3) 46 64
S. Stosur (AUS) d [Q] A. Riske (USA) 64 62

Doubles – Semifinals
[1] A. Klepac (SLO) / M. Martínez Sánchez (ESP) d X. Knoll (SUI) / A. Smith (GBR) 64 64
Quarterfinals
[WC] L. Safarova (CZE) / B. Stefkova (CZE) d K. Christian (USA) / S. Santamaria (USA) 64 63