WTA roundup: Beatriz Haddad Maia eases into Cleveland semis

No. 1 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil needed just 75 minutes to score a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Frenchwoman Clara Burel in the quarterfinals of Tennis in the Land on Thursday in Cleveland.

Haddad Maia won not only 21 of 27 first-service points (77.8 percent) but also 12 of her 22 first-return points (54.5 percent). She had two aces and broke Burel's serve five times in 13 chances.

Haddad Maia's semifinal opponent will be Czech third seed Katerina Siniakova, who rallied past American No. 6 seed Peyton Stearns 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

No. 5 seed Anastasia Potapova of Russia cruised to a 6-2, 6-1 win over Romania's Ana Bogdan. She advanced to face American McCartney Kessler, who followed her upset of No. 4 Xinyu Wang of China on Wednesday by eliminating Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-2.

Abierto GNP Seguros 2024

Lulu Sun of New Zealand toppled Erika Andreeva of Russia 6-4, 6-3 to reach the semifinals in Monterrey, Mexico.

Sun, who made a surprise run to the Wimbledon quarterfinals last month, hit eight aces without a double fault and won 28 of 34 first-service points (82.4 percent).

She will face the winner between No. 3 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia and No. 7 seed Yue Yuan of China.

Two more quarterfinal matches slated for Thursday night will pit Ukrainian fifth seed Elina Svitolina against Czech sixth seed Linda Noskova and American second seed Emma Navarro against Polish ninth seed Magdalena Frech.

--Field Level Media