Top seeds Pegula, Paul surge into Adelaide semis

ADELAIDE: Top seeds Jessica Pegula and Tommy Paul powered into the Adelaide International semi-finals on Thursday with straight-set wins as they play themselves into form days before the Australian Open.

The American duo allowed their opponents few chances in quarter-final routs, with Pegula dispatching fatigued compatriot Ashlyn Krueger 6-4, 2-0 through retirement. Krueger, a lucky loser from qualifying, was feeling the effects of nine matches over the past 12 days in Brisbane and Adelaide.

World number seven Pegula, last year´s US Open finalist, played doubles with Krueger this week and knew her partner was tired. “It´s never fun to win with a retirement,” said the 30-year-old.

“I knew she had a tough singles yesterday. But coming out you never know what to expect, she was still playing amazing tennis.” She will face Yulia Putintseva for a place in the final after the Kazakh player took more than three hours to beat world number 13 Diana Shnaider 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (9/11), 6-4.

Russia´s Liudmila Samsonova earned her first top-10 win in more than a year when she ousted world number eight and second seed Emma Navarro, 6-4, 6-4.

Samsonova will face Madison Keys next after the American upset third seed Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-3. In the men´s draw, Paul duplicated his final-four place in Adelaide from 2020 with a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Australian Rinky Hijikata.

He will now face Canadian fifth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, who defeated American Marcos Giron 7-6 (7/3), 6-3. “That´s a big match,” said Paul, who is seeking a fifth ATP Tour title. “The more time on court the better for me.” Serbia´s Miomir Kecmanovic surged into the last four with a 6-2, 6-3 defeat of French qualifier Benjamin Bonzi.