(Tennis news) Daria Kasatkina has been shining bright in the warm Australian courts. The Russian reached her second semifinal in 2 weeks as she had reached the last four at Melbourne a few days ago. The Russian got her first top five victory in 4 years when she beat Garbine Muguriza at the Sydney Tennis Classic.

Kasatkina had last beaten Muguruza in 2019 and now remains the lowest seeded player left in the draw. The world number 26 placed the ball so well that most of her winners were not even attempted by the Spaniard, the world number 3 took time to build up the point while Kasatkina could instantly find a loose spot and hit the ball exactly in that area.

Muguruza was hitting the ball well but there was no momentum on her side as she was constantly distracted by her opponents' most unexpected winners. Kasatkina will face another Spanish player in the next match as Paula Badosa will be ready for another tough battle. Kasatkina defeated Muguruza 6-4, 6-4.

Badosa’s timing was right on target as she beat Tokyo Olympics Singles gold medalist Belinda Bencic for a place in the last four. The first set saw two players playing one of the best rallies of the year as Belinda took the ball on the rise while Badosa was patient enough to hit the ball well after the bounce. Badosa’s light bend backward while hitting the forehand generates enough power to smash the ball across and Bencic had this forward fall while hitting the ball.

Both of them had different styles but Belinda took more risks as it did not work in the first set as the world number 9 did not take many chances but the forehand winner at tie break was enough to prove her point. Sensing her groundstrokes were not doing enough damage, the swiss player changed her tactics completely and the speeds were decreasing in her groundstrokes. The surprise drop shot caught Badosa completely off guard on multiple occasions. A crucial backhand into the net by Belinda in the eighth game gave the lead to Badosa and she did not again let go of the chance to serve out the match. Badosa defeated Bencic 7-6(8-6), 3-6, 6-3.

Barbora Krejcikova only lost two games in her quarterfinal match against Caroline Garcia as she will next face Anett Kontaveit. Krejcikova won 8 consecutive games in the match as Garcia kept struggling to hit a clean ball on the other side of the court. The unforced errors gave last year’s Roland Garros champion a bagel in the opening set, she took the first two games until the unseeded player won her first game of the match. Krejcikova looked like she won the match even before the ending of the second set as Garcia could never get her form in the match. Barbora defeated Garcia 6-0, 6-2.

Also read: Emma Raducanu falls in opening match at Sydney Tennis Classic