WTA Hobart: Mertens finishes strong to book spot in semis

Belgian Elise Mertens, the top seed, defeated Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus 7-5, 6-0 to reach the last four of the Hobart International at the Hobart ’s Domain Tennis Centre on Thursday night.

Mertens, ranked No 29, will face the winner of the match between Chinese Lin Zhu, the No 3 seed, and Australian wildcard Daria Saville next.

Ahead of her victory, the Belgian won against American Danielle Collins (6-2, 6-3) and Slovak qualifier Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (6-2, 6-3).

Rus, ranked No 50, won against lucky loser Linda Fruhvirtova (6-3, 5-7, 6-3) and Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva, the No 8 seed (6-2, 6-3) earlier in the tournament.

Hobart WTA 250, other quarter-finals results (Hobart ’s Domain Tennis Centre, hard, USD 267.082, most recent results first):

• Yulia Putintseva vs. Yue Yuan
• Lin Zhu vs. Daria Saville
• Viktoriya Tomova vs. Emma Navarro