Tennis: Patricia Tig qualifies for semifinals of WTA tournament in Istanbul

Romanian tennis player Patricia Tig has qualified for the semifinals of the WTA tournament in Istanbul, with a total prize pool of 225,500 US dollars, on Friday night, after defeating seed no. 2 Swedish Rebecca Peterson, 6-3, 6-1.

Tig (26 years old, WTA's 88) seal her victory after one hour and 27 minutes of playing. Peterson (25 years old, WTA's 48) started the match very well and led 3-0, but then the Romanian took six balls in a row, finishing the first set 6-3. The Swede had a favourable debut in the second set, with a break, but then came six more games won by Tig.

Peterson, who made 7 double faults, won the only previous straight game in 2016 in Osprey, Florida, 7-6 (6), 6-3 in the round of sixteen.

Tig won a cheque worth 8,401 US dollars and 110 WTA points, and in the semifinals, she will face Czech Tereza Martincova (25 years old, WTA's 136), coming from the qualifiers, victorious on Friday, 6-2, 6-3 in front of Belarusian Aleksandra Sasnovici.

The other semifinal will be between Eugenie Bouchard (Canada) and Paula Badosa Gibert (Spain).