Muguruza in semis

HONG KONG: Former world number one Garbine Muguruza booked a semi final place at the Hong Kong Open Friday, fighting off a late comeback by Thailand’s Luksika Kumkhum to win 6-2, 7-5.

Muguruza, the 2016 French Open and 2017 Wimbledon champion, is keen to finish what has been by her standards a disappointing season on a high. She has slumped to a world ranking of 13, while her best Grand Slam performance was a semi final at Roland Garros. The Spaniard was relieved to keep the hard-fought match to just two sets with a semi-final against world number five Elina Svitolina or China’s leading player Wang Qiang looming Saturday.

Kumkhum broke her as she served for the match, levelling the scores at 5-5, before Muguruza finally overcame her opponent, who is ranked 105.

Earlier, China’s Zhang Shuai looked in ominous form as she swatted aside last year’s runner-up Daria Gavrilova in straight sets. The world number 39 overwhelmed her Australian opponent — who is ranked five places above her — with the power and precision of her ground strokes and ran away with a comfortable 6-1, 6-3 victory after little more than an hour on court.