Barty, Wang advance to semifinals at Wuhan Open

WUHAN, China (AP) - Ashleigh Barty and Wang Qiang both reached the semifinals at the Wuhan Open on Thursday.

Barty, last year’s runner-up, won four of the last five games to beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 5-7, 6-4. Wang defeated Olympic champion Monica Puig 6-3, 6-1 to become the first Chinese player to reach the semifinals in the event’s five-year history.

Barty is now 5-1 in quarterfinals matches this year, her only loss coming at Eastbourne to eventual champion Caroline Wozniacki. She will next face Aryna Sebalenka, who defeated 2016 runner-up Dominika Cibulkova 7-5, 6-3.

Wang broke Puig six times and saved seven of the eight break points she faced. She will next face Anett Kontaveit, who beat Katerina Siniakova 6-4, 6-4.

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