Garcia gets past Pegula, will face Sabalenka in Cincinnati semis

Caroline Garcia moved into the semi-finals of the Western & Southern Open by beating No 7 seed Jessica Pegula 6-1, 7-5 at the Linder Tennis Family Center in Cincinnati on Friday night.

Garcia cruised into the semis after just one hour and 12 minutes of play.

It gives me confidence that the hard work we are doing on court and off court is paying off.

Caroline Garcia

It has been an amazing run for the Frenchwoman, who had to qualify just to get into the main draw. After that she took out Petra Martic, Maria Sakkari and Elise Mertens prior to defeating Pegula.

“Yeah, (it) feels great,” Garcia assured. “It was a really good match on my side, very solid, very aggressive really in the beginning until the end.

“I mean, we know Jess is a tough fighter, very solid player, plays very flat, never let go. She [is having a very strong year so far. I had to play my best and try to be as aggressive as I can. Some rallies were very, very fast. I think I did very well. Served [well] to get free points. It’s always very nice to get free points. It [gave me more confidence to put pressure on her while returning, and it paid off at the end.

“It’s a lot of matches in tough conditions,” Garcia said of going through qualifying. “I had to play a lot of matches back to back. It’s good for me, because it gives me confidence that the hard work we are doing on court and off court is paying off — because I managed to go on court every time as easily as I can and with good feeling on my legs.

“So it’s very positive for my team and for myself, because 1000 events are a lot of matches against a lot of tough players in a very [short] time. It’s a good accomplishment and it can give me confidence for the rest of the year.”

Cincinnati WTA 1000, other quarter-final results:

• Aryna Sabalenka beat Shuai Zhang: 6-4, 7-6(1)
• Petra Kvitova beat Ajla Tomljanovic (Q): 6-2, 6-3
• Madison Keys beat Elena Rybakina: 6-2, 6-4

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