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Pegula upsets Martic to book semi-final date in Quebec City

She will face Sofia Kenin in the last four.

Qualifier Jessica Pegula produced an upset at the Coupe Banque Nationale as she put an end to the seven-match winning streak of number two seed Petra Martic.

The world number 227 produced a confident display, winning 85% of her first serve points to topple her Croatian opponent 6-3 7-5 and book her place in the semi-finals.

Pegula needed just one break of serve off the back of a double fault from Martic to close out the opening set, while the second set saw the pair exchange breaks.

With the scores tied at 5-5, the American played aggressively to go 6-5 up before holding her nerve to serve out the match.

She will now face a meeting with compatriot Sofia Kenin, who reached the second WTA semi-final of her career by ousting number three seed Monica Puig.

The 19-year-old hit six aces and lost just six points on serve as she dismissed the Puerto Rican 6-3 6-1 in 55 minutes.

As the number five seed, Kenin is now the highest-ranked player left in the draw in Quebec.

British number three Heather Watson sealed her spot in the final four with a straight-sets win over Canada's Rebecca Marino.

Watson took two breaks – losing her own serve once – to take a one-set lead, before needing just one break in the second to clinch the match 6-3 6-4.

Up next for the Briton is Pauline Parmentier, who beat American Varvara Lepchenko 7-6 (7/5) 6-1.

At the Japan Women's Open, top seed Zhang Shuai overcame injury and weather delays to reach the semi-finals with victory over defending champion Zarina Diyas.

The 29-year-old was carrying a leg injury but it did not prevent Zhang securing a 6-4 7-5 win to advance to the last four.

American qualifier Amanda Anisimova will face Zhang for a place in the final after 17-year-old secured her maiden WTA semi-final appearance at the expense of Anna Schmiedlova.

A near-three hour rain delay was not enough to knock Anisimova off her stride as she eased to a 6-3 6-1 win.

Number four seed Wang Qiang assured herself of a spot in the other semi-final as she recovered from a slow start to see off Madga Linette of Poland.

Linette took the first two games before Wang hit back by taking the next eight on her way to a 6-2 6-2 success.

The final quarter-final of the competition will be completed on Saturday after Ajla Tomljanovic's meeting with Hsieh Su-Wei was postponed with less than three minutes played.

A heavy downpour caused the match to be halted inside the first game with the Taiwanese player leading 30-15 on her serve.

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