The semifinals are set in Trophée Clarins after quarterfinals day which featured just three singles matches. The rain conditions have still naggled the venue in Paris same as in two previous days, but there were no critical issues to make the schedule done for today and emerge four semifinalists for tomorrow. The top seed and absolute star of the field Madison Keys has expectedly moved forward with a straight sets victory over Anastasia Zakharova. The American meets seventh seed Yuliia Starodubtseva in semifinals - the Ukrainian who won the only one three-setter of the day. Aliaksandra Sasnovich meets Diane Parry - the only one French representative left in the draw who got a walkover from Yulia Putintseva. The Kazakh has withdrew on Thursday due to the lower back injury.
Starodubtseva wins the rollercoaster ride
The world number 57 has needed to bounce back after difficult start of European clay season which started in disappointing fashion. Starodubtseva won just one main draw match out of Rome and Madrid big events, coming there fresh off the sensational run into final in Charleston. Starodubtseva has advanced into quarterfinal in Paris with commanding straight sets victories in first two rounds. Katie Volynets came here after defeating her much higher-ranked compatriot and one of the featured players of the tournament - Emma Navarro. The match has started perfectly for Starodubtseva who won first 5 games including three breaks advantage. Barely no one could expect this set is far from being over, as Volynets has mounted an amazing comeback to deliver the same series on her side, even despite Starodubtseva has had three setpoints in 10th game during own serve. The comeback did not bring the desired result though, as the Ukrainian regained the advantage with another break and won this quite crazy set by 7-5.
Further parts of this match were no less unusual. Volynets did not give up after unsuccessful comeback in first set and won the second one. Starodubtseva's serve was not working at all there with just 4 first serve points won in whole set and all service games ended with breaks earned by Volynets.
While first set was some sort of mirrored performance of both players, the trend between second and third set was simillar. When Volynets won second set winning all service games of her opponent, she totally lost the plot in third one, losing all own games same as her opponent did in previous part. It was a really messy encounter at this stage, as Starodubtseva has also held just two serves, most importantly in the last game winning to love and whole the match by 7-5 2-6 6-2 after more than 2.5 hours of play.
Keys navigates to semifinals
Madison Keys could expect the bar of difficulty going quite up after first two easy matches, as she met Anastasia Zakharova who eliminated the reigning champion Katie Boulter after a gritty battle in round of 16. The Russian has started in positive way, gaining a break in second game. This was the last moment when the Russian was up in the scoreline though, as Keys has settled with her serve and consequently rised up her level, getting break advantage after 7th game. Zakharova was still competitive in this set despite losing it 4-6 at the end, but the second was a one way traffic. Same an in previous match against Tiantsoa Sarah Rakotomanga Rajaonah, Keys has quickly build the gap and won the whole match comfortably by 6-4 6-1.
The qualifier Alina Charaeva has also advanced into semis with commanding performance. Same as Keys, the 23 years-old has came back from an early break down after start of match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich to take the control of action on court, winning it by 6-4 6-0 with dominant display in second set.
Saturday semis preview
Despite many featured players got eliminated even before the quarterfinals, semis line-up delivers one really high-profile match-up as for the WTA 125 grade event. Madison Keys meets Yuliia Starodubtseva in a rematch for the upset served by the Ukrainian over last year's Australian Open champion in Charleston. Starodubtseva has defeated Keys in semifinals, winning by 6-1 6-4 which was the biggest upset of whole tournament in North Carolina and also the most important victory in the career of the Ukrainian so far. The second semifinal will surely bring the energy of home fans on the court, as they will cheer on Diane Parry in a battle against Alina Charaeva. The Russian has already guaranteed herself the advance into career's highest position in WTA Rankings, being 122th in live list. Parry got the day off with Putintseva's walkover after two days of all-French battle against Chloe Paquet, heavily interrupted by the rain. It's a huge stake in that match for Parry, as she will comeback to top 100 in case of advancing to final.