Rouen Open: Stephens breezes past Yuan to reach the last four

American Sloane Stephens, the No 6 seed, won against Chinese Yue Yuan, the No 4 seed, 6-2, 6-2 to move into the semi-finals of the Rouen Open at the Kindarena.

Stephens, ranked No 39, will play the winner of the match between Romanian qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse and Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, the second seed, next.

The American beat Peyton Stearns (1-6, 6-1, 6-3) and Karolina Pliskova (6-3, 6-2) ahead of her victory.

In the previous rounds of the Rouen tournament, Yuan, ranked No 38, defeated Egyptian Mayar Sherif (6-3, 7-6 (7)) and edged out Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva (6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (6)).

Rouen WTA 250, other last-eight results (Kindarena, clay, EUR 232.244, most recent results first):

• Anhelina Kalinina vs. Mirra Andreeva
• Elena-Gabriela Ruse vs. Caroline Garcia
• Arantxa Rus vs. Magda Linette