Svitolina keeps title defence on track in Baku

Originally published on 25/07/14

The Ukrainian world No.37 booked her place in the last four in Azerbaijan with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Pauline Parmentier of France, while Schiavone defeated the in-form Kristina Mladenovic 6-3 4-6 6-0.

After dropping the opening set, Mladenovic, a semi-finalist in Istanbul last week, looked to have clawed her way back into the contest after winning the second set from a break down, but failed to win another game as her 34-year-old Italian opponent roared back to seal victory with a third-set bagel.

In the top half of the draw, Stefanie Voegele followed up her second-round win over top seed Sorana Cirstea with a 6-2 2-6 6-4 victory over last year's finalist Shahar Peer. Voegele will meet Bojana Jovanovski in the semi-finals after the Serb came from a set down to beat Japanese qualifier Misa Eguchi 4-6 7-5 6-3.

Meanwhile, Heather Watson may have lost her opening match in singles, but she reached the doubles final alongside Russian partner Aleksandra Panova as the pair knocked out top seeds Oksana Kalashnikova and Olga Savchuk 7-5 6-2.
 

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