Krejcikova, Ostapenko reach Birmingham semi-finals

Top seed beats Fruhvirtova 6-3, 6-2; second seed battles past Frech 4-6, 7-5, 6-2

BIRMINGHAM:

Top seed Barbora Krejcikova cruised into the semi-finals of the Birmingham WTA grass court tournament on Friday with a 6-3, 6-2 win over fellow Czech Linda Fruhvirtova.

Second seed Jelena Ostapenko, by contrast, needed to battle back from a set and 4-0 down before prevailing over Polish qualifier Magdalena Frech 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.

World number 12 Krejcikova never faced a break point as she reached her first grass court semi-final of her career.

"I definitely feel great, it's nice to have three matches in your pocket," said Krejcikova

"Every single match you have to be aggressive on the grass. To play aggressive, to go for the shots, to serve well and return well and start dictating from the very first point, I think that's the key, and I think that I was doing that pretty well today."

Krejcikova will face China's Zhu Lin in the last four after she beat Rebecca Marino 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Ostapenko's fightback sets up a clash with fourth seed Anastasia Potapova on Saturday.

The Russian outlasted British wild card Harriet Dart 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Friday's last quarter-final.