Canada's Eugenie Bouchard advanced to the quarter-finals of the Bell Challenge tennis tournament on Thursday with a 7-6 (2), 6-4 over over Kazakhstan’s Sesil Karatantcheva. (file photo)Petr David Josek/The Associated Press
Fifth-seed Eugenie Bouchard of Montreal advanced to her second WTA semi-final of the season by upsetting second-seed Kristina Mladenovic of France 6-3, 6-2 at the Bell Challenge.
With the win, the 19-year-old will crack the top 50 for the first time in her career when the next rankings are released Monday.
"I never really let her into the match and that's what I improved on from my first two matches," said Bouchard. "I am happy that I was able to continue playing aggressively when I had the lead in both sets."
Bouchard will face Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic on Saturday. It will be the first meeting between the two.
Safarova, the third seed, defeated American Lauren Davis 6-2, 6-4.
Marina Erakovic of New Zealand will face Christna McHale of the U.S. in the other semi-final.
Erakovic, the sixth-seed, defeated Ajla Tomljanovic of Croatia, 2-6, 6-1, 7-5, while McHale also came from behind to beat Polona Hercog of Slovenia, 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3.