Eight players battled today on the Banque Nationale central court of Laval’s University’s PEPS for a spot in the singles semi-finals of the Coupe Banque Nationale. Fifth seed Julia Goerges (no. 94), from Germany, faced Czech Republic’s Andrea Hlavackova (no. 184). In their three previous encounters, Goerges was victorious. In a two hours and 45 minutes match, Goerges did not disappoint and won in three sets of 6-7(6), 7-5 and 6-2, earning a spot in the semi-finals. It will be her second participation in a WTA semi-final this year after Pattaya city in January.
The following contest featured Croatia’s Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (no. 121) and Sesil Karatantcheva (no. 176) from Kazakhstan. After a tight first set that ended 7-5 in her favour, Lucic-Baroni, easily eliminated her rival with a 6-0 win in the second. Holder of two WTA singles titles, she will be taking part in her first semi-finals on the tour this year. With an important win over world number 2 Simona Halep at the last US Open, the Croatian certainly has high expectations for her next match at the Coupe Banque Nationale.
The third quarterfinals match was presented during the evening session and starred first seed Venus Williams (no. 20) from the United States and Czech Republic’s Lucie Hradecka (no. 185). Although the two players had faced each other a few times in doubles, it was their first encounter in a singles match. The two players offered a breathtaking performance and kept the spectators on the edge of their seats. After losing the first set 6-3, Hradecka offered great opposition and won the second 6-4. The third set was just as exciting and a tie-break was even required to determine the winner. Tennis legend Williams finally has the last word and won 7-6(3). She will be participating in her fourth semi-finals this year after Oakland, Dubai –which she eventually won, and more recently Montreal, where she defeated her sister and world number one Serena Williams on the way to the singles final.
The last quarterfinals match was presented also this evening. The American Shelby Rogers (no. 86 – seed no. 4) was up against Germany’s Tatjana Maria (no. 497 – special ranking no. 129). It was an easy 6-4, 6-2 win for Rogers who will be moving on to the semi-finals for a second time this year after Bad Gastein in July.
Tomorrow, there will be only an afternoon session starting at 1 PM. The first singles semi-final presented will feature Mirjana Lucic-Baroni and Julia Goerges. The following contest will be the second singles semi-final between Venus Williams and Shelby Rogers. Finally, the two doubles semi-finals will be simultaneously presented on the two courts of Laval University’s PEPS. On the Banque Nationale central court, Hungary’s Timea Babos and France’s Kristina Mladenovic, first seeds of the doubles draw, will face third seeds Lucie Hradecka and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni while on the Bell court Barbora Krejcikova from Czech Republic and her partner Tatjana Maria will compete against Germany’s Julia Goerges and Czech Republic’s Andrea Hlavackova.
Excellent tickets are still available for Saturday and Sunday’s sessions of the Coupe Banque Nationale. For reservations, fans can dial 418-653-2255.