Hibino ends Hsieh reign in Hiroshima
Nao Hibino dethroned top seed Hsieh Su-wei with a straight-sets victory to reach the semi-finals of the Japan Women’s Open.
A new Japan Women’s Open champion will be crowned this weekend after home contender Nao Hibino dethroned Hsieh Su-wei to reach the semi-finals.
World number 146 Hibino defeated the top seed 6-4 6-3 on Friday and will face Mihaela Buzarnescu in the last four in Hiroshima.
The unseeded Hibino will play in her first Tour-level semi-final for almost two years after hitting 25 winners and breaking five times to advance in straight sets.
Romanian Buzarnescu stayed in the hunt for the title with a 6-4 7-5 victory over Alison Van Uytvanck.
Veronika Kudermetova, the second seed, beat Laura Siegemund 6-3 4-6 6-2 and will take on Misaki Doi, a 7-5 6-1 winner against Sara Sorribes Tormo.
Two-time champion Peng Shuai moved into the semi-finals of the Jiangxi Open with a 6-4 7-6 (7-5) defeat of Zhu Lin.
Peng will do battle with Elena Rybakina after she went through at the expense of Viktorija Golubic in Nanchang, while Rebecca Peterson and Nina Stojanovic progressed by seeing off Magda Linette and Kateryna Kozlova respectively.
