Friday saw the five remaining seeds in Birmingham contesting the quarterfinals of the local WTA Premier event. In the only match featuring two seeds, the highest ranked woman prevailed, while the only real upset of the day struck the #1 seed of the tournament, Simona Halep, who was sent packing by Frenchie Kristina Mladenovic.
In the matchup of former Birmingham titlists, Sabine Lisicki, well regarded as a grass specialist and riding her ever-powerful service – conquering opponents and reaching milestones throughout the week in Great Britain – faced Daniela Hanutchova, an unseeded Slovak who claimed the AEGON Classic title back in 2013, in a rematch of the 2011 title game, won by the German.
Lisicki, who improved her lead in their head-to-head to 4-1 with her fourth consecutive triumph over Hantuchova, served 10 aces to only 3 double-faults and converted 4 break-points on 7 opportunities to claim a tight 7-6(2), 6-2 win. With the result, Sabine reaches her first semifinal since Indian Wells (l. to Jankovic), to face her compatriot Angelique Kerber.
Kerber, the fourth seed, faced 75th ranked Czech Katerina Siniakova and also posted a straight sets win. The German, whose ventures on grass have earned her two runner-up campaigns in Eastbourne (2012 and 2014), a semifinal run at the All-England Club and a quarterfinal finish at the London Olympics, both in 2012, did not serve an ace throughout the two sets played, but double-faulted only once and saved 6 of 7 BPs faced. Her counterpart, however, served 8 double-faults and got broken four times, thus helping Kerber, a top-10 player again, win by a scoreline of 6-2, 6-4.
In the head-to-head against Lisicki, Kerber is undefeated: she holds a perfect 5-0 record against her compatriot, with the most recent triumph coming at the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, in 2012.
The other semifinal rubber will be contested between Kristina Mladenovic and Karolina Pliskova, as the world number 12 Czech cruised past Carla Suarez Navarro – a top-10 who fares better on clay than on grass – by a 6-2, 6-2 score.
Pliskova converted 5 break-points while holding Suarez Navarro to only 44% of points won with her first serve and 40% with the second, dominating the return games to impose her game. Karolina’s first service also did not leave much room for the Spaniard to fight back, as Carla won only 8 points when Pliskova didn’t have to serve again.
Pliskova now tightens her H2H deficit against Navarro, claiming her second win, and now trails 2-3. This was their fourth meeting this year, and now each has a pair of wins. Her semifinal foe, Kristina Mladenovic – the only unseeded player left in the draw – won their only previous meeting, at Moscow last year. Pliskova is looking for her first career final on grass.
